Mr Baywatch guy
by A-Karana
Summary: A heatwave has Stars Hollow in its clutches and Luke involuntarily gets a second profession: Swim instructor for a certain brunette with blue eyes. AU Please note that the rating was changed to M!
1. Chapter 1

_Yeah well what can I say? Friends, readers and fellow authors, welcome. __I live in two worlds. One is a world of fanfiction. I've been a resident of stars Hollow, hunted down Nicole and Chris when they came in between Luke and Lorelai, fought for some happy endings, sailed on the happy JJ shipper ship, rode a sad train with Lorelai and Luke in all those break-up stories, and strolled down the path of happiness when they got back together. It's a rewarding world. My second one is the real GG world, full of disappointment and grief. It should have ended differently… you all know the speech, so I spare you ._

_But what I wanted to say is that I have a new story. A little summer something to cheer up this grey winter outside. Although this prologue might look like angst in some parts I assure you that it's not. Hopefully this will turn out to be a fluffy, romantic, funny and ridiculously sappy story. Enjoy and review ;)_

_Set between season 2 and three. Forget Christopher or any other partners that might play a role during that time. I did._

**Chapter 1: Cooling off gone wrong**

Lorelai glanced at her watch for the umpteenth time that day, hoping that it would finally be eight and she could go home. It was hard for her working that day because it was so hot.

"Freaking hot", she muttered and fanned herself with some papers while she looked through the reservation book.

"This is disgusting", Michel said and pointed to a drop of sweat which had dropped from her forehead onto the surface of the table.

"Michel I advise you not to mess with me today", she warned him and wiped the drop away.

"If you would have called someone to check on the air-conditioner, like I told you to, we wouldn't be in this possition", he went on anyway.

"I did! I did call Andre, but he is on vacation and the other guy.. what ever his name was will stop by tomorrow morning first thing. And now be quiet and leave me alone", she snapped at him and closed the book.

"If it still will be this hot tomorrow morning then don't expect me to come", Michel added and then went quickly into the direction of the backyard so Lorelai wouldn't get him.

"Gah", she said and closed the door of her office behind her. It wasn't better in here either. They had brought all fans they found into the guests rooms and so the rest of the hotel was incredibly warm. Everyone was complaining, not only Lorelai and especially the kitchen staff had every reason to. With all the boiling water, hot pots and pans and the constantly running oven it was like hell in there, especially because they weren't allowed to open windows and doors for a longer time- that would be a health code violation. Lorelai had told Sookie to stop cooking and make ice-cream instead, but Sookie being Sookie didn't accept that.

Lorelai sat down in er chair, took the small and handy fan she had brought and started it. While it was humming and buzzing she thought about what she could do once she got home. Rory was still in Washington, Luke was still inoring her apology letters and her house had no air-conditioner. Great. She hadn't slept for the last three nights because of the heat wave and she was already afraid of her exploding water bill because of all the cold baths she had taken to cool off.

With a sigh she decided to get at least her paper work done, a towel in her hand to start the dripping of sweat.

It was half past eight and it still hadn't cooled down when Lorelai finally left the Inn. She drove home in the overheated jeep, the wheel burning, the top and the windows open, but even that didn't help. The air was still sultry and warm and as soon as Lorelai slammed the front door shut behind her she basically ripped off her wet blouse and the drenched trousers and just left them lying on the ground where she had stepped out of them. What had she been thinking dressing in long jeans and s tight blouse this morning? Short skirts and tank tops - that was the only way to dress these days. Or don't wear any clothes at all, although that would really be inappropriate for the Inn.

She just wanted to grab something to drink when the phone rang and she groaned.

"Not now", she answered the phone and heard her daughter giggling on the other side of the line.

"Guess the heat-wave is up and running", Rory teased her.

"Don't mock mommy. It's horrible. I feel like I entered hell", Lorelai groaned and dapped her forehead with a tissue.

"Well, you better get used to it. That's what's waiting for you after your death", Rory said.

"Mean child. How's Washington? Still nice with bearable weather?" she asked.

"Yeah, although it could be 200 degrees outside and we wouldn't notice. We're barely ever leaving the buildings. It's all work and no fun, but at least we have air conditioners".

"Ah that sounds nice. I just hope this repair man guy will finally show up tomorrow at the inn, otherwise the guests will be two inches shorter by the time they leave because of all the water they sweated out".

"Gross! And why didn't you call Luke? I'm sure he would have looked at the air conditioner".

"He's still mad at me", Lorelai admitted and pouted.

"Still no response to your letters?"

"No, he is still ignoring me", Lorelai muttered.

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to call him a stubborn idiot in one of the letters", Rory mentioned.

"It was the fifth letter and I was only speaking the truth", Lorelai defended herself.

"Yeah, but insulting him doesn't necessarily make him speaking to you again".

"I had hoped for some nice yelling or a rant, but even that didn't happen", Lorelai said and groaned when another drop of sweat ran over her cheek.

"Ok, I guess I better let you go. You're taking another ice bath?" Rory asked.

"Maybe, don't know yet. I guess our water bill will ruin me forever after this month".

"Then drink something cold", Rory offered.

"Just what I wanted to do when you called. I can't talk and move though- Too exhausting", Lorelai said.

"The go and get something. Bye mom. I miss you", Rory said.

"Bye honey. Miss you, too!", Lorelai replied and hung up.

Only in her underwear she walked into the kitchen, left the wet tissues on the desk and checked the fridge for something cold to drink, but couldn't find anything other than sour milk. She spit it into the sink, rinsed her mouth with some tap-water and threw the milk box into the trash. While she leaned against the counter she thought about what to do now. What choices did she have? Running herself a cold bath and making the bill even higher? Turning on the TV and soak the couch with her own sweat? Sitting outside in her underwear and hope for some cold breeze? Outisde, she thought and wrinkled her forehead. She had a new bikini and Stars Hollow had a small lake.. it was not that dark yet... Lorelai had made her decission. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier? Well she knew why, but she just wanted to cool off a bit so that wouldn't be a problem.

With reneweed energy, given to her by the mere thought of some cooling off, she walked upstairs, stripped off her underwear, got her bikini and put it on as well as some shorts and a top. She took her bag from her closet threw some towels, a brush, a book and some dry panties in and then she was downstairs and out of the house within seconds. She decided to walk to the lake, because the jeep was way to hot and she wished for a second that she had some air in her bike- tires and could ride her bike to the lake. But the bike didn't only need air but also some cleaning, lights and a new sattle... so that left walking.

It took her a good twenty minutes to get to the lake and she just let everything in her hands fall to the ground and started to take her clothes off. Then with less clothes she spread the biggest towel she had brought out on the ground and stuffed her clothes in her bag.

Warpping her hair up in a messy pony tail she walked to the edge of the lake and dipped one toe into the refreshing water. She used a tree to steady herself and then dipped her foot farther in, let the water play over her ankle, wiggled her toes a bit and sighed in contentment. After a minute she took her foot out and dipped the other one in, repeating the process.

She concentrated on the feeling of the cool water against her skin, felt it streaming in between her toes, tickling her ankle. It stood in contrast to the hard tree against which she was leaning with the plam of her hand. It was hard, rough and warm.

Somewhere behind her some wood cracked and she turned her head in the direction of the sound. She hoped that no one was coming. Although she enjoyed the company of her crazy neighbors in general she felt too hot and lazy to deal with any of them. They would talk to much, pose too many questions and want too many answers. The only person whom she wouldn't mind was Luke- and he was still not talking to her.

She had stopped counting how many letters she had written him. The first one only said "I'm sorry" for three pages. The second one had explained things, the third had begged him, the fourth had tried it with jokes, the fifth had been angry, the sixth had apologized for the fifth one and so it went. He had never replied though nor had he ever said a single word to her when they had met accidentaly somewhere in town. He would nod, acknowledged her presence, and then look the other way or just plain out ignore her.

She couldn't see anyone and so she turned her head back to the lake, watched how the sun set behind the trees at the other end of the lake while she dipped first one and then the other foot into the water.

After a while she went and grabbed one of the towels, dipped it into the water and wrung it out over her head, let the water run over her face and drip on her chest. She shuddered a bit, but enjoyed it and bent over to wet the towel one more time.

She had just reached the water with the towel when she heard a splash, followed by a yelp. She looked up and saw someone right in front of her. Lorelai could feel her pulse speed up as she dropped the towel into the water without realizing it. She yelled in surprise as well while she was still staring at the person in the water, without really seeing the face. It was more like the blurry outline of someone's upper body. Because the person didn't wear a bikini top she guessed that it must be a man- or a woman skinny dipping.

Her eyes adjusted to the intruder just milliseconds later and she finally realized who had had the same idea as herself.

However when she straightened up, so she could better yell at him for scaring her like that she let go of the tree. The slippery ground of the edge doing the rest and before she could do something she slipped and fell into the lake.

It was cold, it was wet and dark. It gave her some cooling off, undoubtedly, but at the same time a new panic rose within her that made her hot and sweaty, because she had no sense of orientation under the water and didn't know where top and where bottom were.

She plashed in the water, twisted, struggled and turned and was happy when she came back up and gasped for some air. She had found the right direction, she had found the light and the air.

She heard him chuckling- not really laughing out loud, because he rarely did that. She saw him backing up, going farther away from her, fearing that she would take revenge now that she had her head out of the water again. Maybe he thought she would dunk him or splash water in his face for scaring her like that, making her slip.

Just when she wanted to yell at him, to call him an idiot, tell him to not go away she went back under the water like someone had pulled at her feet. The panic was there again, rising and rising. She knew where the air was, she could see the light. She had one problem though: She didn't know how to get there because she, Lorelai Gilmore, couldn't swim.

Of course it was just one more thing she didn't talk about. Making everyone believe she was wonder woman didn't go well with the fact that she didn't know how to swim. Everyone just assumed she did, even Rory. Her parents had a pool and a huge pool house, so why would anyone think she couldn't swim?

Maybe if they had known that her mother never had time to teach her and maybe if they had known that none of her nannies had been able to swim, or had been too scared to teach her. If something had happened to Lorelai while in the pool her mother surely would have killed them and not just fired them.

She had been to pool parties as a teenager, even had one at her own house, but she only had been in a pool until the water reached her hip. Then she stopped going further or had an excuse. She played the same game at the beach, complained a bit about the cold water and went back out. She wasn't even sure if her parents knew that she couldn't swim. Rory didn't, Christopher didn't and even Sookie didn't, so why should her parents?

So here she was drowning in the Stars Hollow lake, because her former best friend and coffee provider Luke Danes has scared her. Maybe they would think he killed her. Everyone knew he was mad at her and no one knew about her inability. She didn't want Luke to go to prison. And she didn't want to die.

She started to struggle harder, struggled against the water which seemed to swallow her. She couldn't see the light anymore and she turned around, kicked the water, waved her arms in panic around. Oxygen was getting rare already, the fight taking it's toll. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Instead water streamed in and she swallowed it, coughed and swallowed more.

She was getting desperate and she thought that she started crying. Never in her live, maybe except for the moment when Rory had called her from the hospital, had she felt such a terrifying panic. What would become of Rory if she would die now? What would be with the Inn? The way she died would just be another disappointment to her parents. She coughed again, tried to get the water out of her lungs, but only more came in. She squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again and found everything still black around her.

She felt her feet touching something. She had reached the ground- that was fast- she thought. The ground was hard, rough and warm. Warm? She pressed her feet to it again, stared in the direction of it, but couldn't see anything.

Then something cold wrapped tightly around her ankle, then around the other one. She kicked her legs, tried to find out what it was. Then she was pulled to the right and then in direction of her feet. She wasn't sure if there were animals or twiners in that lake, but she doubted it. Sure a frog here and there and maybe some fish, but an animal that big? No way! This was not Loch Ness.

When a cold arm wrapped around her waist and she felt herself being pulled against a hard body she sighed in relieve and swallowed another swing of water.

"Would you stop kicking?" she heard Luke yelling when he pulled her out and she gasped for air in response. He let go of her foot and pressed her against him, treating the water with his legs to keep them both up. She flung herself against him when she saw his face and clung to his shoulders. She coughed and spit out water over his shoulder.

"Lorelai let go of me", he told her, sounding agitated and maybe a bit scared. She just tightened her grip on him, afraid he would let her drown for real this time.

"Lorelai we will both go under the water. I will bring you out but you have to let go of me", he said insistently and grabbed her face between his hands, making her look into his eyes. She started to cough again, some water hitting him right in the face, but she loosened her hold. She felt that he turned her around so her back was against his chest and slung his arms around her middle. Like that he swam with her and brought her to the bay of the lake. It wasn't far, but the lake didn't slowly go deeper, it was deep right at the bay.

Luke shoved her up the edge and she lay on her stomach, wet, coughing and now also covered in sand and grass while her toes where still dipping into the cold water. She didn't even have the energy to roll onto her back. Luke pushed himself up and got out of the lake as well, immediately hurrying to her side. He turned her coughing and spitting form on her back and cradled her body against his.

"You... stupid... idiot!" she pressed out between coughs and gasps for air and tried to slap his chest.

"How is that my fault?" he asked defensively, but the softened when he looked down and saw her red and wet face. She was slowly calming down, her breathing getting steadier. "You're ok?" he asked and gave her arms a squeeze.

"Yeah", she nodded, the anger had vanished and embarrassment had taken its place. She wiped the water out of her eyes and her face and sat up slowly and moved to the ground when she realized in what position she was. She was lying sideways in Luke's lap, her shoulder pressed against his wet chest, her right thigh against his thighs and stomach. It was nice somehow, but embarrassing as well. She covered her eyes with her hands and sighed.

"You're sure?" Luke asked and tried to catch her eyes, but she lowered her head and didn't take her hands off.

"Yeah, I'm fine", she assured him and uncovered her eyes. "You just scared me", she said and gave him a fake smile, an attempt to make him believe that he had just surprised her and she could swim. Yet Luke could not be fooled.

"I didn't know you couldn't swim", he said and sounded surprised.

"Yeah, well..." she shrugged and stared on the ground again.

"Why don't you know how to swim?" he questioned and still looked surprised.

"Luke, it doesn't really matter, I..." she started to avoid his question. She just wanted to get out of this embarrassing situation, go home, hide in her hot house and forget this had ever happened. She might have to avoid Luke for a while, but hey, he hadn't been talking to her for weeks now, so a week more or less wouldn't matter anymore, right?

"Hey, you spit me right in the face. You owe me an answer", he said with a smile and actually made her laugh. It was followed by a coughing fit, but it eased the tension a bit.

"Always wanted to do that", she grinned when she stopped coughing, but then turned serious again. "I don't know. I guess nobody ever taught me", she shrugged when she answered his question.

"You have to learn it", he stated.

"I know. But how embarrassing is it to go to the public pool and learn how to swim with some seven year olds?" she huffed.

"I can teach you", Luke said after a second during which he seemed to think about it.

"What?" she gasped.

" I can teach you how to swim", he repeated.

"But Luke you have the diner and..." she started but again he interrupted her.

"Otherwise I will keep you on a leash in the diner for the rest your life so you can't go near a lake anymore", he threatened jokingly.

"Will you wear a lifeguard outfit like the guys on Baywatch?" she asked, accepting his offer with a smile. She took his hand when he helped her up, her mood changed now.

"Uhm... no", he grinned and shook his head. "You're going back home now?" he asked.

"Yeah. I am exhausted from my little adventure here", she said and gathered her things, realized that one towel was still in the lake, but she didn't care.

"It's better. And stay away from all waters that are deeper than your bathtub", Luke advised her.

"Oh believe me, I will", she agreed. When she slung her bag over her shoulder she realized for the first time that Luke was cap-less and wore only some shorts. Water was still dripping off his body and the reddish last sunbeams made him glistening in the light.

"Uh, I should go", she stuttered when she realized that she had been staring at him and walked off. She had just walked a few meters when she turned around.

"Hey Luke? " she called.

"Yah?"

"Thank you! You saved my life today", she told him sincerely.

"You're welcome", he just shrugged and rubbed his neck.

"You know that you're stuck with me now. You're my hero and swim instructor", she teased him and turned back around.

"God help me", he rolled his eyes and watched her walk away in her wet bikini, enjoying the look immensely. It wasn't bad at all when she walked away from him, he thought and went back in the lake to swim another round.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

_Ok, guys see I had an epiphany while writing this chapter: I am absolutely unable to write FFs at my desk. I tried to write the chapter at my desk and the outcome was roughly two pages long. So I took my laptop, moved over to my couch and tada, here is the chapter. Hope you like it and thank you for all your reviews, they are highly appreciated._

_Oh and I forgot to mention that I have no beta for this story, which I guess will be obvious when you stumble over the faults. I try to write as correctly as possible, but being no native it's sometimes hard when it comes to certain expressions and even the dictionary doesn't help at times. In this chapter I was looking for a word and the "English professional guys" kept arguing in the forum belonging to the dictionary if the word is "float" or "kickboard". Personally I have no idea and chose the one I liked better. I hope you all get what I am trying to say with my sentences…_

**Chapter 2:**** Ignoring Garfield**

The next day the heat-wave hadn't ceased. It was still as unbearably hot as it had been the last few days. However that night Lorelai had slept like a baby out of sheer exhaustion. She had feared that she would have nightmares from her little underwater adventure but she hadn't. Instead she had dreamed of her night in shining armor, or swim-trunks in her case.

She had relieved the moment when he had pulled her out from under the water and pressed her against his own wet body over and over at night. And that certainly hadn't been a nightmare.

In her dream things went further and she felt his lips on hers when he wanted to give her a kiss of life, but the life had left after a while and he had just kissed her and she had eagerly kissed him back.

Her lips were still tingling when she just thought about it while she sat in her office, which was now at least chilly because the air conditioners were working again. She knew though that as soon as she would leave the building she would be hot and sweaty in seconds again.

She sighed and tried to wave away the mental picture of Luke kissing her with a hand cue but it didn't work. She had tried to find an explanation for her dream and had come up with the idea that she was currently having teeny tiny thing for him now because he had saved her life and had looked pretty hot while doing so.

She was really looking forward to her first swimming lesson and remembered that they hadn't set a date yet. Maybe he had just said it like that so she would stay away from the lake? Or to soothe and calm her down?

Lorelai took the phone from a batch of insurance papers and dialed the diner number she had memorized years ago.

"Luke's", he answered in his usual gruff way, yet it had never made her smile like a lovesick teenager, which it did today.

"When are we gonna start?" she asked him again.

"What? Who is there?" he asked irritated.

"Lorelai, it's Lorelai. I know we haven't really talked for a while but I hadn't expected that you forgot how my voice sounds", she replied a bit disappointed.

"Sorry, the diner is packed and hectic. So start what?" he asked again and she could hear Cesar yelling something in the back.

"Hey, uhm, can I come to the diner for lunch and we talk then?", she asked reluctantly, because he sounded like he was still mad at her. Had she dreamed the scene at the lake as well? Had he never saved her? Were they still fighting and he was still ignoring her and her letters?

"Yeah sure. We'll talk then", he said and hung up immediately. Lorelai stared at the phone in her hand and took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. She drummed her fingernails against the phone and then lay it back down on the desk and went into the kitchen to find Sookie.

"Hey Sook", she greeted her and grabbed a cup of coffee.

"Hey! Something wrong?" Sookie asked suspiciously.

"Nah, not really", Lorelai shrugged. She couldn't tell Sookie that she had nearly drowned last night and neither could she tell her that Luke had saved her, simply because her friend didn't know that she couldn't swim and maybe would be angry with her for not telling her before.

"Come on. You're pouting at your coffee cup, something is wrong", Sookie stated and stopped stirring whatever it was she was stirring.

"Luke is still mad at me", Lorelai spoke the half-truth. It wasn't completely a lie.

"Aw, you were in the diner?" Sookie said sympathetically.

"No, I just called him and he didn't really say anything and then hung up on me", Lorelai recounted unhappily.

"Luke hung up on you? What did he say?" Sookie was really surprised now. No matter how mad Luke had been on Lorelai he had never hung up on her in all those years they knew each other.

"He said that he is busy and that I could come to the diner later and we'll talk then", Lorelai replied.

"That's not hanging up on you", Sookie laughed.

"The line went dead before I could say "ok", that's hanging up", Lorelai insisted.

"No it's not. It's being busy. You know that the diner is packed at this time of day. If he would have hung up the second he heard your voice now that would have been hanging up on you", Sookie smiled and handed her friend a chocolate muffin.

"He didn't even remember my voice", Lorelai muttered and stuffed part of the muffin in her mouth while Sookie just shook her head and laughed.

"Why did you call him anyway?" Sookie asked curiously after a minute of silence.

"Oh you know… just…. Well", Lorelai stuttered and became alert knowing her friend was now onto to something and she couldn't get easily out of that one.

"Ok, spill it", Sookie said, wiped her hands at a towel and said down next to her, fidgeting giddily with her hands.

"Luke and I we met yesterday, accidentally, by the lake. You know it was hot and we both needed some cooling off", Lorelain started, still wracking her brain how she could get out of this one.

"And?" Sookie asked excitedly.

"And, uhm, my towel fell into the water and he took it out of the water and handed it to me", Lorelai's story went on.

"And then you did it by the lake?" Sookie exclaimed.

"Did what?" Lorelai asked blankly.

"Had sex", Sookie clarified, beaming at her friend.

"Sookie, Luke and I didn't have sex! We're friends. Friends who are fighting, were fighting and are not anymore… or still are… I don't know", Lorelai said in frustration.

"So that's all that happened? He got your towel back which fell into the lake?" Sookie asked her not really buying it.

"Yeah and he didn't seem mad anymore, that's my point here Sookie. But now on the phone he hung up on me!" Lorelai tried to get back on track. She hated lying to her friend. But she knew that Sookie would not only be mad if she told her now that she couldn't swim. She also knew that Sookie would be the first one to come and watch her swimming lessons with Luke, hell she would make a town festival out of it and everyone in Stars Hollow would have blast watching her learn swimming. Miss Patty probably would want some lessons herself just so she could touch and grope Luke.

'Touch and grope Luke?' Lorelai thought and smiled at the new options this gave her. These lessons were looking better and better the longer she thought about it. He had a nice body, she had see it the night before and him touching her wouldn't be so bad either. However she was convinced that this was only the hero-syndrome and those daydreams would soon enough vanish and he would be her buddy Luke again- also in her thoughts and dreams.

"Guess you have to go to the diner and find out, honey", Sookie smiled, patted her arm and went back to her pots and pans.

* * *

Little before noon Lorelai was already pacing the lobby of the Inn, checking her watch repeatedly to see if it was lunch time already and she could go to the diner. When the watch finally gave her the "go" signale she hurried out of the hotel, let the door falls shut behind her and then had to stop. She felt like she run against a hot wall of air and she nearly jumped back inside. 

Slowly she set one foot in front of the other to get to her jeep. She pulled the keys out of her purse and opened the door. The air that streamed out was even hotter than the air outside and when she sat down she thought her butt would get blisters because the seat was so hot. She had to get to the diner though. Yet when she touched the steering wheel she knew that this was not going to work, because there was no way she could touch the black plastic wheel for longer than a second. Frustrated she got back out again, slammed the door shut and locked it and mentally prepared herself to walk the five minutes to the diner.

She took the shortest path and had to walk past the lake. Yes, THE lake. She stayed on the path though, not even tempted to cool of in it and was surprised when she saw something yellow by the lake side. She stopped and leaned over to take a closer look and realized that it was her towel down there and some ducks where sitting on it contently, obviously happy with the soft cloth.

"Yeah, now you're stealing my towel and where were you last night when I needed you?" she asked them while she walked past them and the ducks only shortly turned their heads in her direction before they went back to starring at the water.

"If you're still mad at me and I made this way in vain I am going to kill you Lucas Danes", Lorelai muttered and wiped some sweat off her forehead

A few minutes past noon Lorelai entered the diner to have lunch and to find out what was wrong with Luke. She hesitated to sit at the counter for a second but then went through with it. She had to talk to him and it was unlikely that he would sit down at her table for a chat. So the counter it was. Luke just came out of the kitchen with two plates full of food when she sat down and he hurried past her. Lorelai frowned. He really was still ignoring her.

"Hey", he said then from behind her and she turned and followed him with her eyes as he walked back behind the counter and stopped in front of her.

"Hi", she replied and looked at him, tried to find out if he was still being robot Luke or normal Luke from last night. She wiped some sweat off her forehead and before she could lay her hands back on the counter Luke handed her a tissue. "Thanks", she said and dabbed her forehead with it. Luke held his hand out when she was done and then threw it in the trash.

"The Armbrusters stole my towel", she said then, for a lack of a better opening line-

"Armbrusters? Guests at the Inn?" he guessed, but doubted it at the same time.

"The ducks, the Armbrusters. When I walked here I walked past the lake and they sat on my towel quaking happily", she enlightened him.

"Uhuh", he just nodded like it was a completely normal thing to say and then scratched his neck when he saw her expectant look. "Sorry I couldn't speak earlier but the diner was crazy", he said and then turned around to the coffee-maker, filled a mug to the brim and placed it on the counter in front of her.

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" she asked and took the first sip of her coffee.

"No. Why?" he asked confused and handed some orders to Cesar in the kitchen.

"Hello! You ignored Garfield", she replied a bit angry.

"Ah that. Yes I read them. I liked the Garfield stationary. That is one funny cat", he said and started to clean the counter with a towel.

"So you read the comics but not my words?" she gasped.

"I did read your words I just had nothing to say to that. We're good", he shrugged.

"Huh… nice. Twenty letters didn't make you forgive me but the Garfield did", she replied. "If I would have known that I would have just bought you a fat reddish cat that night and then yelled at you some more", she muttered.

"Lorelai, please. I am not mad anymore, I hope you are not mad anymore and after last night I am just really happy you're alive", he lowered his voice when he said the last sentence. "And please no matter what: Never buy me a cat", he stated.

"Ok, no cat. Dully noted. When can we start with the lessons?" she asked and was surprised herself how relieved she felt that he really wasn't mad anymore and that last night really did happen… even if he hadn't given her a mouth to mouth in reality.

"I don't know. But we should start as long as it's still warm out, otherwise the lake will be too cold", he shrugged and stopped the cleaning.

"You want me to go into that lake again? No way bucko!" she shook her head.

"How else can you learn how to swim? In a wading pool?" he asked her and raised his eyebrows.

"Yay, let's get a kiddie pool with a Barbie design", she grinned happily.

"You're nuts", Luke shook his head.

"Or do you like Bob the builder better. It's more manly and you wouldn't be alone with me", she replied and batted her eyelashes at him. Luke still looked at her like she had gone mad.

"You could bring your manly rubber duck along and then my girly one and yours can be best friends", she went on.

"You really were under the water for too long yesterday", he replied and took a plate from Cesar and delivered it to the table. "But ok, get the kiddie pool. I guess it will be fun to see how you will try to squeeze yourself in there to swim", Luke said when he came back.

"I am not fat", she said with an exaggerated pout.

"I did not say that", he replied.

"So you and me at the lake tonight?" she said and got up, slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Yup", he nodded.

"Will you wear red shorts and a carry around a kickboard?" she teased him.

"Baywatch again?" he asked.

"Wow, you're keeping up", she smiled proudly at him.

"The Baywatch joke is already getting old", he rolled his eyes.

"Ok, then I have to see what else I can come up with", she was still grinning.

"You have time until tonight. I guess I will have to hear it then", Luke stated.

"You betcha", she nodded. "What time?" she wanted to know.

"Eight thirty?"

"Good time. I'll see you there. Anything I should bring?"

"I think some water wings would be good", he told her with a straight face and grinned when he saw her shocked expression. "I was joking. A towel and a bathing suit", he chuckled.

"My towel is already there", she shrugged.

"I doubt the Armbrusters will give it back. They are kleptomaniacs", Luke replied with a wink.

"Ok, then I will bring one, but we have to keep an eye on it. See you then Mr. Baywatch guy", she grinned happily and walked out of the diner.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

_Ok, so here is the first "lesson". Hope you enjoy it... review please and tell me what you think.  
_

**Chapter 3:**** Doing the frog**

Lorelai couldn't remember the last time she had needed that long to get dressed. She hd tried on all 4 bikinis and the one bathing suit she owned in order to see which one would be best for her lesson with Luke.

She had tried on her black bikini first. It was casual, tied around the neck and showed off some cleavage but not too much. The slip sat low on the hips and showed off her flat stomach and put the spotlight on her butt.

However then she thought that maybe black was too dark, too boring. She didn't have any tan so far and black made her look even paler than she was. So she had taken out her yellow bikini with the blue flowers. It went better with her complexion and the blue flowers were the same colour as her eyes which had been the reason why she had bought it in the first place. Yet both the bra and the slip were a really conservative cut, the slip nearly reaching her navel and the bar straps being too big to go as sexy.

And so it went. Her bathing-suit made her look like her own mother, the red bikini Luke had already seen and she had nearly drowned in it and the light grey string bikini was out of question anyway. She knew that, but tried it on anyway, only to step out of it a second later.

Why had she insisted on starting today? She should have set the first lesson for next week so she would have had enough time to go bikini shopping, but no, impatient as she was,, she had made the appointment for the same night and now she had nothing to wear.

With a heavy sigh she finally decided to wear the black bikini which she had tried on first and then went into the bathroom to start primping for her date, uh lesson.

She gritted her teeth while using the cold wax strips and sighed in relieve when she applied the soothing lotion. It was the first thing she did because she knew she couldn't apply the sun lotion directly after the waxing because it would make her skin red and itchy.

Looking down at her feet she decided that the pumice would be needed to make her feet soft. One never knew which parts of her body Luke would touch when he taught her…mmmh Luke touching her. While she rubbed the pumice in circles over the heel of her right foot she remembered her dream and her daydreams.

When she had been drowning there had been no time to really enjoy his hands on her body, but she hoped that these lessons would give him a lot of opportunities to wrap his strong arms around her body and keep her safe.

'Gilmore get a grip! He is your friend not a gigolo you hired' she chastised herself and moved the pumice o her left foot. She used her free hand to massage her toes lightly and wondered how it would feel if Luke would give her a foot massage. That must be heaven. His long fingers softly rubbing her feet, massaging her toes and then tickle the underside with one finger while she was sprawled over the bed, her arms ling limply beside her, her eyes closed and she would moan from time to time.

"Gah!", she exclaimed in frustration and threw the pumice on the floor. What was she thinking having these thoughts about Luke? A day ago they hadn't even been talking to each other.- She had told him to go to hell and he had ignored her letters and now here she was fantasizing about him? Where was this coming from? Maybe he was right and she had been too long without oxygen yesterday.

But he had saved her. He was her hero, her life-saver, literally now. There was a syndrome when victims suddenly fancied their kidnappers and maybe something like that was happening to her now with her hero? Stockholm syndrome the one was called, but what was it called to lust after you're hero? She really had to google that.

She checked her heels with the palm of her hand and was ok with the outcome. Looking at her naked toes though, she decided that some red nail polish would add a little spice to the black bikini.

It took her another ten minutes to decide which of the several shades of red she had she should use, but in the end she went for a dark burgundy shade and painted her toenails and fingernails. It couldn't hurt, right?

While the polish dried she was looking through her make up, checking the several items for something water-proof. She found some mascara which seemed to me water proof, but wasn't lucky with make up, eye-shadow or lipstick. If she applied the normal stuff though it would be running over her face in no time and that certainly wouldn't make her look pretty.

So she opened the mascara and applied it a first time, let it dry for some seconds and then applied it a second time, to make her long eyelashes look even longer.

When the polish was dry she could finally do her hair. At first she just combed through her long curls, remembering that most guys liked the hair open. The curls were framing her face and falling softly on her shoulders and back. However the second her hair would get wet and then dry again she would look like a poodle. So she couldn't wear her hair like that. But which way then? She took some hairpins and pinned her hair in lose strands to her head, let one strand out to frame her face. Again she liked that style, but if she would get another under water experience like yesterday the pins would fall out and she was back to the poodle version of herself.

She glanced at her cell-phone which lay on her bed and she really wanted to call Sookie or Rory so they would give her some advice. But then she would have to tell them the whole story and she didn't want to do that. Lorelai sighed again, unnerved by all the decisions she had to make tonight.

She did the most responsible thing in the end and just wrapped her hair up in a ponytail. That way her hair could get as curly as it wanted and she would still look good. Then she applied the sunlotion, which smelled great and she was done in the bathroom.

Ok with the outcome she walked back into the bedroom to search for some some clothes to wear over her bikini. It shouldn't be too casual she decided, because she wanted to impress Luke. But it shouldn't be too fancy either because that would make him suspicious and she could only imagine what would happen if the townies would pick up on the fact that she had a date tonight with Luke… at the lake. Ok, ok, it was a swim lesson, but they were all alone in this big lake… and the sun was setting. Patty and Babette would have a blast and she would never hear the end of it, even if nothing would happen with her and Luke. Even if they wouldn't kiss or make out.

Kiss or make out? She really had to stop thinking about this, otherwise she would jump Luke by the lake and he would have no idea what was wrong with her. For him he was just teaching a friend how to swim and that was it… he didn't know that she had really gone crazy under water and was now obsessed with him and haunted with sexual fantasies of the two of them.

Now really annoyed with herself she grabbed her pink shorts and a black tank-top, quickly dressed and took her already packed bag before she could contemplate her choice of clothes again.

In the foyer she slipped into her flip-flops, which were also black and sparkled at bit and then walked to he lake to meet with her hero Luke.

* * *

"Hey, you're already here", she greeted him when she reached the secluded area of the lake where they had agreed to meet.

"Yup, I tried to find a spot in the lake that is not as deep", he said and glanced at her long and bare legs, asking himself again how he would get through these lessons when she wore close to nothing all of the time. This was called torture and he had brought it to himself.

"And did you?" she asked and placed her bag on the ground, then leaned over it to get her beach-towel out. She was pulling out the big guns already.

"What?" Luke asked distracted, his eyes drawn to her butt now. He couldn't help himself.

"Did you find a spot which is not that deep?" she clarified and turned her head to look at him, caught him staring at just smiled while she spread out the towel on the ground.

"No", Luke said and cleared his throat nervously. "It's deep everywhere", he said. Had she caught him staring? Probably not, knowing Lorelai she would have teased him about it.

"Sooo, I don't see a wading pool here. So how are we gonna do this?" she asked, straightened back up and put her hands on her hips with a challenging look.

"Well, you go in there, do the frog, learn how to swim and then get out again", he shrugged.

"Do the frog?" Lorelai laughed.

"Do the frog", Luke nodded. "So.. shall we?" he asked and pointed with his chin in the direction of the lake.

"Yeah sure, just give me a sec'", she agreed and quickly discarded her clothes and threw them on her towel. She adjusted her slip by running her index fingers under the hems on her butt, which didn't go unnoticed by Luke. "Ok, done", she smiled then and turned back around to him, only to find him still fully clothed. "Uhm, will you go in there like this?" she asked confused.

"I won't go in there", Luke shook his head.

"What?" she exclaimed. "You want to kill me. Luke I can't swim! You can't throw me in there alone!" she said and took a step back, farther away from the water.

"Yeah because I would throw you in there and then walk away", he replied and rolled his eyes.

"I said nothing about walking away! Don't you dare walking away", she said and grabbed his flannel by the sleeve and held onto it.

"Jeez, would you calm down. You know I am trying to teach you how to swim. I am not trying to kill you… although that would probably be easier", he muttered the last part.

"Hey, watch it", she said and punched his arm.

"I brought you something", he said then and loosened her fingers, one by one from his shirt.

"Uh, you brought me a present! That's so nice! Show me!" she said, her attitude changing completely in a second.

"I said nothing about a present, but ok, if you wanna keep it you can", he said, went to his own backpack and pulled out a square package, wrapped in foil which he handed to her.

"You bought me a "Bob the builder" air mattress?" she asked incredulously and stared at the package in her hands.

"Yeah, I thought it would come in handy", he shrugged and blushed slightly before he rubbed his neck, something he always did when he was embarrassed.

"But it's Bob the builder", she beamed at him, her hand stroking over the surface of the foil.

"There was no way I would get the Barbie one you were babbling about. So take it or leave it", he grumbled.

"I take it", she replied and smiled widely at him. She then ripped the foil open and took the mattress out.

"Wait I brought something to pump it up", he said and handed her a pump a second later.

"You really are my hero", she grinned and watched him how he pumped the mattress up. When he was done he placed the pump back in his backpack and handed her the mattress.

"Here you go and now get in there.. it's getting dark already", he said and pointed to the lake.

"But I can't swim", she protested.

"You've got the mattress and I will tell you what to do from here", he replied.

"What if I slip off?" she asked raising her eyebrows. She wanted him in there with her, damn it!

"Then I will come to your rescue again", he shrugged.

"But you wouldn't even be able to see me slipping of because, as you already pointed out, it is getting dark", she said and tried to make a point really clear.

"What did I do to deserve this?" he sighed and unzipped his jeans, then unbuckled his belt and stepped out of his jeans.

"It was your idea", she grinned, basking in her victory.

"I must have been crackbrained", he replied and then unbuttoned his flannel shirt. He still had a grey T-shirt underneath ´

"Don't you think you should lose that as well?", she asked cheekily and pointed to the grey shirt.

"Just go into the water before I push you…without the mattress", he groaned, grabbed her by the shoulders and walked her to the edge of the lake. It felt like his hands were burning on her skin and she was sure his fingerprints must be visible, yet she enjoyed the feeling of him touching her. She felt cold when he took his hands away and jumped into the lake.

"Hand me the mattress", he called and she gave it to him. He lay it on the water and held it with one hand, while he steadied himself with his other hand at the bay. "Ok, come in now", he said then and gestured with his head.

She looked down at him, then at the lake and the water which seemed black and endless and scary. It seemed flat and hard and there were just some small waves around Luke, the rest of the water was completely still.

"Luke, I'm scared", she admitted quietly, still staring off at the water.

"I'm here, nothing will happen" he said and she looked back at him. When he was sure they had eye-contact again he held out his left hand to her, let the water-mattress drift of a bit. "Give me your hand", he said and smiled encouragingly at her. Slowly she took it, wrapped her fingers around his and let herself slide into the water. When she was in he steadied her and held her up so she could hold on to the edge of the lake. "Ok, stay here, I get the mattress", he said then and swam off to get it, came back a few seconds later. When she saw him she turned around suddenly and threw her arms around his neck.

"You're back. Don't leave me like this ever again! I could have died", she said over dramatically, the images of the day before getting to her.

"Jeez you will kill us both of you won't let me go a bit", he said, but stroked soothingly over her spine, letting goose-bumps break out where his fingers touched her. "Here, why don't you hold onto this?" he asked and shoved her onto the mattress. Her upper body was lying on it, her legs hanging into the water, her hands grasping the edges.

"God, I am glad you bought bob", she sighed in relieve.

"So the mattress has a name already?" he asked.

"It came with one", she grinned, her fear vanishing over their banter.

"Good to know", he rolled his eyes and then swam to her side. "Ok, now look… you do the frog with your legs now, like this", he said and showed her how to move her legs. Lorelai concentrated more on his butt though, which was in good view while he swam away from her. "You got it?" he asked when he came back.

"Yeah. Frog. I got it", she nodded although she had just a slight idea what she should be doing. She started to move her legs in a way she thought she should and Luke started chuckling.

"You're looking like a chick trying to fly", he grinned.

"Yeah well, what did you think I am? I am obviously a hot chick and not a hen or, god forbid, a rooster", she said and stopped kicking with her legs.

"For all I care you could be the egg. And now: Do the frog!" he said, slightly unnerved already.

"You know Luke, I have eggs, and hopefully they will stay in that state for a while, But I am not one. Not anymore anyway…" she replied with a saucy grin.

"Why do you always have to be so…" he trailed off, looking slightly disgusted by her biology explanations.

"Blunt?"

"Gross!"

"I just call a spade a spade", she replied. "'cause that's what hot chicks do".

"So stop being the chick… do the frog!" he told her again, grabbed her ankles and moved her legs the way she should.

"Doing the frog now", she grinned happily, enjoyed the feeling of his fingers on her skin while he moved her legs and she floated on the mattress on the water. Being a frog was a good thing.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

_So, next chapter. Thank you for your reviews I really appreciate them! Keep them coming. And thanks to Laura for looking over the chapter and pointing out my weird typos! _

**Chapter 4: Insults in the moonlight**

At eight thirty five pm the next day Lorelai arrived at the lake and was surprised when Luke wasn't there yet. He was always on time and she smiled when it occurred to her that she now had something else to tease him about.

She hadn't had the time that day to spend hours on getting dressed, so she had just gone with the choice of the day before and wore the black bikini again. The Inn had been hectic that day and she didn't even have the time to complain much about the heat or think about the lesson with Luke the night before.

The lesson, naturally, hadn't been like in her dreams but she had known that before. It would have been weird for Luke to just kiss her suddenly. They were friends- without benefits- and so she had known before that that would not happen. Yes, she had caught him staring at her butt but he was a man after all and every guy would have been staring at her butt in that position. She knew her rear end was not bad to look at, neither was the rest of her and that Luke had been looking at her didn't mean that he had a thing for her in any way or that he wanted to kiss her.

He would kiss her back if she would tease him enough and then kiss him she guessed, but then what? They would jump into bed do it, get out of it and the friendship would be over. That was not what she wanted. If she would kiss Luke she wanted something more, or at least the promise of something more. A relationship. 'Wow a relationship with Luke' she thought and cocked her head to the right side. What kind of boyfriend would he be? She couldn't picture him being the romantic I-buy- you- flowers- every week- kind of guy, so maybe he was just himself and added a little kissing and making out to that.

However his touches had been so tender last night. Whenever he had touched her he paid attention not to grab her too hard, even the time she had slipped off the mattress he had just wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her. God, that had been nice. First his hand had glided over her stomach to her other hip and his arm had followed, pressed against the skin of her stomach. He had lifted her back on Bob and then he had not just taken his hand away abruptly, but had glided his hand back over her stomach the same way it had come. Her breath had gotten stuck in her throat when one of his fingers had dipped into her navel in the process.

This together with the touches on her ankles had been the only touches last night, but it had already made her imagination gone wild last night in her bed. What if he touched her more? What if she would touch him? What if he would touch her other places? And he had really looked hot in his wet grey shirt, which he had refused to get rid of, and his blue shorts. The shirt had clung to his body and the tattoo had just peeked out a bit under the cloth. She had wanted to rip his shirt of after the navel incident and dip her finger in his, stroke her hand over his tattoo and lean her head against his strong chest.

* * *

At a quarter to nine Luke still hadn't arrived and Lorelai decided to blow up Bob in the meantime. They had let the air out last night so she could take the air-mattress with her and the townies wouldn't get suspicious. She looked around her when she took the mattress out of her bag and noticed again that the lake was deserted. If Luke hadn't been there two days ago she would have drowned and they probably would have found her body weeks later. 

Most citizens of Stars Hollow didn't go swimming at all. People like Babette, Patty or Taylor just stayed in their houses, shops or studios, enjoyed the air condition and that was it. It was a good thing in a way because Lorelai knew she wouldn't enjoy Taylor in a bathing suit and Patty would be a threat for all men around her.

Actually Patty had, like most of the younger people and the families, gone to the public pool just outside the town, but they had forbidden her after a while because she had been accused of molesting a father of four kids by pinching his butt repeatedly. Patty always told the story with a hint of pride in her voice and Lorelai had always considered this story funny, until last night. What if she would do that with Luke? What if she would pinch his butt and ogle him while he wore nothing more than some shorts. The word 'restraining order' immediately came to Lorelai's mind. No one was allowed to do that but her!

With that thought she blew out some air and started to blow up the mattress, the anger helping her with the force of the blows.

She was done at ten to nine and Luke still wasn't there and she started to worry if he would show up at all. It wasn't like Luke to be late, but it wasn't like Luke to forgot a date either. Ok no date, but a lesson, but still. She decided to call him and had just dug her cell-phone out of her purse when she heard some steps behind her and saw Luke hurrying down the path to the lake.

"Hey there you are. I thought you would jilt me tonight", she grinned when he had reached her, slightly out of breath.

"I'm sorry the diner was crazy today. I forgot about the basketball championship at Stars Hollow high and so everyone came in after the game to get something to eat. I even had to call Cesar to help me out because we were so swamped, " he said and wiped some sweat of his forehead and adjusted his cap.

"Seems like business was good today in Stars Hollow", she smiled.

"Same at the Inn?" he asked and wiped his hands on his jeans.

"Same at the Inn, although without the sports-guys", she nodded. Luke was wiping his forehead again and finally unbuttoned his flannel-shirt, took it off and used it to dry his face.

"Just gimme a second", he said while he wiped his face. He sounded stressed and slightly exhausted and Lorelai felt bad for making him do this.

"Luke if you just want to relax we can drop the lesson today. I don't want this to be an obligation for you. We can do these lessons when you have time and if you don't then you don't", she shrugged and tried to act cool.

"Nah it's ok. A little cooling off will be nice", he replied but that second Lorelai heard a strange sound.

"Luke, have you eaten today?" she asked him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because your stomach is growling so loudly that it could wake up the dead", she explained and pointed to his stomach.

"I ate", he nodded but looked down on the ground.

"What?" she questioned.

"An apple", he shrugged.

"When?" she wanted to know and raised her eyebrows.

"For breakfast", he muttered.

"What? I couldn't hear you?" she said, although it was clear that she understood him perfectly.

"This morning I had an apple for breakfast", he repeated unnerved.

"Luke if you were a girl I would say you have diminished appetite", she said and placed her hands on her hips.

"I am not", he just said.

"Luke! You will go home now and eat something. I don't want to be the reason why you starve to death", she insisted and grabbed his arm to emphasize her point and make him look at her.

"And I will feel so much better leaving you alone here and then you drown", he said sarcastically.

"Who said anything about me staying here? I could eat as well", she shrugged modestly.

"Ah, now I get it. You want something to eat and use me to get something".

"Dirty! And no, I am just worried about you. But come on! Let's drive somewhere and get something to eat", she said and started to let the air out of the air mattress.

"Can't we just go to the diner? I don't want to shower and change now", he complained.

"You can go like this. It doesn't matter which flannel you wear Luke, they all look good to me", she grinned flirtatiously and twirled a lock around her finger to tease him some more.

"I smell like grease and grilled meat".

"Just how I like a man", she giggled and slung the bag over her shoulder. "Oh and I don't think the diner is a good idea. Then you just start working some more and I will be all alone at the table and then the people will pick up on my outfit and I will have to tell them that I went swimming at the lake and then they will realize that you must have been there as well and then they will start coming also and then we have to stop the lessons because I don't want anybody to know that I can't swim and then everything will be over", she said with a pout while she hurried after Luke who had started walking back to the diner.

"Then let's just go upstairs and I will make us some pasta", he proposed.

"You really are my hero", she grinned and skipped to him, then slung the strap of her bag over his shoulder so he would have to carry it. He didn't even argue.

* * *

"So", Lorelai said and then swallowed first before she went on, "who taught you to swim?" she asked and wiped some of the sauce off with her napkin. 

"My dad", he replied. "He always said that I wasn't allowed to come with him to go fishing until I could swim. Of course then I always said I could swim", he said and laughed. "When I was three and we were at the lake I insisted that I was able to swim, just so I could go fishing with him the next weekend. I was really convinced it wasn't that hard. So dad asked me "You're sure you can swim" and of course I said yes. So my dad went into the lake and then told me to jump in, without water wings or anything", Luke went on.

"Oh my", Lorelai giggled.

"So I jumped in and went under the water like a stone", Luke laughed.

"And then your father rescued you", Lorelai gushed.

"Not immediately. He waited until I swallowed enough water to get scared to jump in alone again. So when I was scared enough he finally pulled me out, waited until I had spit out all the water and then asked "Do you know how to swim?" and I just shook my head and started to cry, because I was so disappointed", Luke smiled, remembering the moment. "Then my mom came and took me from my dad, soothed me and started arguing with him if that had been really necessary. It was a good lesson though. I never jumped into that lake again until I was really able to swim", he finished.

"Please don't do that to me. Emily wouldn't soothe me in any way, I can assure you", Lorelai grinned.

"So you're done?" Luke asked and pointed to her empty plate.

"Yup", she nodded and handed it to him, then got off the chair and walked over to the couch where she lay down, let her feet dangle over the edge. "I'm so full", she groaned and rubbed her stomach.

"Maybe some exercise would help you with that. Like washing the dishes for example", Luke said pointedly and nodded in the direction of the sink while he cleared the table.

"Luke, it's rude to say something like that to your guest", she told him.

"Oh no, you're not a guest. A gatecrasher or freeloader yes, but no guest", he snorted and shook his head.

"Is that what you really think of me?" Lorelai said aghast and sat up immediately, stared at him with an open mouth.

"No, but I got you to sit up, that's something", he laughed and threw a towel at her, which she caught. "Dry the dishes at least", he said and let the water into the sink.

"You are an evil man, Luke Danes", she laughed and got off the couch.

"I though I was your hero and life saver?"

"That went out the window a second ago", she said and took the first wet plate from him, dried it and then put it in the cabinet where it belonged, without asking which one it was. She just knew from all the other times she had been up there, for whatever reason. Lorelai Gilmore would always found one to snoop around in his apartment.

* * *

Half an hour later they were sitting side by side on the couch, their feet propped up on the table. 

"You really are a great cook. You should add something of that fancy stuff to the diner menu", Lorelai broke the comfortable silence they had bathed in for a while.

"Nah. Then I couldn't let Cesar run the place anymore and I would always have to be there. He doesn't know how to cook anything other than fries and scrambled eggs", Luke disagreed.

"And pancakes. Although his are not as fluffy as yours", she added.

"Thank you I guess", he nodded and looked at her. He looked relaxed and comfortable and his naked feet on the table were just one indication for that. She smiled at him, saw the light reflecting in his eyes and then looked to their feet beside each other on the table. That was one nice picture.

"Hey, are you still as hot as I am?" she asked him and pressed her toe to his right foot.

"Yeah, but the only air condition is down in the diner", he nodded and handed her another tissues to wipe the sweat off her face.

"It's full moon today", she said and glanced over to the window. It was half past ten now and pitch black out, except for the moonlight.

"That doesn't conjure up an air conditioner in my apartment", he grinned.

"I know that, blatherskite", she said and nudged him again with her foot.

"And another insult. If I were particularly self-conscious I might jump out the window now", he teased her.

"Why don't you jump into the lake?" she grinned.

"Well I can swim so I couldn't drown myself which would ruin the plan of killing myself".

"True, but you could cement your feet like they do in the movies. You could be AlCadanes".

" That was a lame one and it's nice to know that you are fond of me killing myself", he teased her.

"I am not. Actually I was thinking more about you teaching me how to swim and less of you killing yourself. Cause that would defeat the purpose and you couldn't save me anymore", she said.

"You're so selfless", he rolled his eyes.

"I know, but thanks", she grinned. "So what do you say? Let's go swimming!"

"Now? It's dark out", he pointed out.

"It's full moon. Hey, listen to me!" she said and he got another nudge with her foot.

"Hey watch it now", he said and nudged her back.

"Ow! You really should use pumice before you do that again", she complained and rubbed with her right foot over the top of her left. "So what do you say?" she asked.

"To the pumice? No thanks. To the swimming? Ok, I guess", he shrugged.

"Ok, then what are we waiting for, let's go", she said and jumped off the couch.

"The diner is still open. I think we should wait half an hour longer so that we can be sure nobody will see us", he argued and Lorelai plopped back down on the couch.

"Ok, then hit the button and turn on the TV… oh and hand me the remote", she told him, propped her feet back up on the coffee-table, lay her head against his shoulder to get comfortable and took the remote from him.

* * *

"See isn't that nice?" Lorelai asked Luke while she lay sideways on her stomach on the air-mattress, only her legs and hands in the water, Luke lying in exactly the same position beside her. 

"Yeah, but it defeats the purpose of you learning how to swim", he said and nodded to her splashing feet.

"True, but at least it's good for cooling off", she grinned and splashed some water into his face.

"It could be so peaceful", he muttered and wiped the drops off his face.

"Aw, are you getting romantic on me now? The moon is shining, the crickets chirping and the two old friends are drifting on an air-mattress over the quiet dark lake", she giggled.

"You forgot the babbling brunette, who can't swim and keeps splashing water into my face. Yippee, how romantic, I am melting into a puddle", he dead-panned.

"Oh come on, you know you enjoy my sparkling personality", she laughed, the word sparkling only in her head because Luke's skin seemed to sparkle in the moonlight, just like his eyes.

"You will so pay for all the insults tomorrow", he promised.

"Oh really? How?" she burst out laughing.

"You will make that frog so often you won't be able to walk the day after tomorrow. Sore muscles", he grinned sadistically and held his hands up just in time for the next splash of water.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**** Without Bob**

The next evening when Luke arrived at the lake he carried two brown paper-bags.

"My my, burger boy, what are bringing your favourite customer?", Lorelai smirked when she saw him. She was sitting on a blanket on the ground and enjoyed the slight breeze that was actually there that evening.

"I thought before we are both starving again I could bring some burgers and fries", he shrugged and sat down beside her on her blanket.

"You eating fries?" she asked quizzically.

"Fries are for you… I'm eating a Caesars salad", he corrected his former statement.

"A Caesars salad or a Caesar's salad?" she asked and took one of the bags and ripped it open, then dumped it back on the blanket when she saw that she picked the wrong bag. She ripped the other open as well and stuffed some fries in her mouth.

"Thanks", Luke said sarcastically when she threw the bag with his food back on the blanket. "And where is difference?" he asked then, not understanding her question.

"The difference is: One is a Caesars salad, and the other is Caesar's salad", she said with a full mouth.

"Huh?" he still didn't get it and opened the lid of the boy with the salad in and stabbed the first slice of cucumber with his fork.

"It's not that hard Luke. Maybe this green stuff is messing with your powers of comprehension", she laughed.

"Or maybe you talking with your mouth full of food is making it hard for me to understand anything. Didn't your parent's teach you not to do that?" he grumped.

"Oh my parents told me so many things… but none of them stayed put", she laughed. "ok, now let me make it clear for you, Mr. Selbmann", she said, then swallowed. " See there is a salad called Caesars salad which is a certain salad, like an international standard. You can order it here or in Italy and there's still the same stuff in. And then there is the possibility that this, my friend, is a Caesar's salad, meaning that your cook, friend and alter ego Caesar made this… hence a Caesar's salad", she said and pointed her index finger at him before she took another bite of her burger.

"Okay", he dragged out the word, looked down at his salad, seemed to ponder on the question, lifted the salad a bit and looked under it where he found some tomatoes, then let it back down. "I would say it's a Caesars salad", he said then with a nod.

"Yeah but which one?" she groaned.

"A Caesars salad, Mrs. Selbmann", he replied calmly and took a bite of his burger.

"You're being mean", she muttered with a pout,

"I am being mean? Who started this?", he snorted, "and by the way this is a completely pointless discussion anyway, because Caesar never created a salad and the actually Caesars salad was invented by god know who", Luke started.

"A professional salad inventor named Caesar?" Lorelai grinned.

"And even if Caesar did… invent a salad you wouldn't know and you wouldn't care because you don't eat any salad and instead stuff yourself with that unhealthy crap", he ranted glanced snidely at her food.

"I do eat Caesars salad! Not Caesar's salad but Caesars salad… with a side of steak" she grinned happily.

"Can we please change the topic? You're making my head swim" Luke asked unnerved.

"Aw see , but we're right on topic: Swimming", she giggled and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Eat your food", he ordered and she smiled at him before she bit into her burger again. She just loved his rants.

They ate in companionable silence fort he next few minutes and she actually stole some tomatoes from him while he ate two or three fries. Lorelai was comfortable and lay down on her side and Luke mirrored her position shortly after. They were facing each other, their eyes most of the time on their food, but they couldn't help but glance at the other from time to time.

"So, I'm done", Lorelai announced proudly and broke the silence.

"Ok, then go to my bag and get your liquid poison out", he said and nodded his head in the direction of his backpack.

"You brought coffee and you're telling me that NOW?" she gaped at him and then rolled onto her stomach so she could reach his backpack.

"Yeah, later it will be cold", he shrugged with a smug smile. "And we can't got swimming now anyway because we would drown".

"Ah right, you're not allowed to swim after eating something. Rory was talking about that when they had swim classes at school. She was so freaked out that she didn't even want breakfast", Lorelai said and took another sip of her still hot coffee.

"Yeah the eating rule could be an explanation why you never learned swimming", Luke said and she smiled.

"Could be", she agreed. "Hey Luke, the other day though we went swimming after dinner", she said the after another few minutes of silence.

"We didn't go right after dinner and we brought Bob with us", Luke replied and rolled on his back.

"So you finally accept that Bob was baptized?" she grinned when she heard him using the name she had picked out for the air-mattress.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked and looked at her, saw that she was still on her stomach and smiling down at him.

„Not really", she grinned. „And Bob is in my bag, we just have to blow him up".

"We won't need him today", Luke shook his head, which rested on his arms.

"What?" she asked shocked. "Why?"

" Because you're just lying on it, being lazy and let me do the work", he said and closed his eyes.

"Dirty!" she exclaimed. "And you're just jealous".

"Of Bob?" Luke asked and opened one eye to look at her.

"Yeah, because he is such a nice guy. If it makes you feel better I can also call you Bob, then you'll always think I'm telling all those fabulous stories about you", she teased him and punched his arms lightly.

"No thanks", he replied and closed his eye again.

"Or I could call you Bobby then you would still know the difference".

"I can't follow you anymore", he shook his head and didn't even try to follow her crazy train of thought.

"Bobby… as in Bobby Brown", she said and then continued in a deep voice, "Hey there, people, I'm bobby brown. They say I'm the cutest boy in town. My car is fast, my teeth is shiney, I tell all the girls they can kiss my heinie".

"Would you stop that?" he said and opened both eyes.

"Oh God I am the American dream. I do not think I'm too extreme. And I'm a handsome sonofabitch. I'm gonna get a good job n be real rich", she continued and then erupted in laughter when she saw his unnerved look.

"Letting you drown is sounding really appealing right now", he stated with a stern look and she went from laughing to an exaggerated pout in just a second. "Come on crazy, let's get in the water", Luke said and got up.

"First you're talking about letting me drown and now you want me to follow you into the water? No way mister!" Lorelai said, sat up and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You will never learn to swim of you're not going into the water", he groaned and placed his hands on his hips.

"Hello! Letting me drown!" she pointed out again.

"Lorelai…", he let out a frustrated sigh.

"No, I'm not coming, You'll kill me for real this time, because I am annoying you and you're wasting you're time here with me after an exhausting day in the diner and you could be up in your apartment now or out dating some woman in a nice and cool place", she muttered. Luke looked at her curiously and tried to find out if she was serious or just setting the stage for another round of teasing him. He would actually prefer the second option, but he really wasn't sure, she wasn't looking at him, but starring on the ground just where the blanket ended. He stepped closer to her and crouched down right in front of her.

"Lorelai", he said, but she didn't look up. "Lorelai, do you trust me?" he asked quietly when she still wouldn't look at him. That made her look up though and she seemed surprised, he could see it in her eyes.

"With my life", she said honestly and without thinking about it.

"Good, then let's go into the water. We both have to work tomorrow", he said and stood up. He held out his hand to her and she took it and he helped her up. They both got ridd of their clothes quickly and just threw them on the blanket.

"So Bob has to stay in my bag tonight?" she asked and followed him to the edge of the lake.

"Yup", he nodded and jumped into the cool water. "God, that feels good", he said when he came back up. Lorelai looked at him with a small smile. He was really gorgeous, especially now in just his shorts and all wet, his hair sticking out.

"Are you coming in or will you just stay there and stare?" he grinned and wiped some water off his face.

"I am not staring! I am wondering how I am gonna get in there without drowning immediately", she shot back and sat down at the edge.

"You're gonna come in here and I will help you. And then you will really learn how to swim", he said and swam a few meters in the lake on his back before he came back. "Come on you've already done it twice", he encouraged her.

"Yeah but then Bob was always in there", she replied.

"So maybe you should have asked him to teach you how to swim".

"No, a nice gentleman offered before Bob even came into the picture", she laughed and then slid slowly into the water. Luke was there immediately and held her on her upper arm.

"You remember the frog-thing we practised?" he asked her.

"No.. I have amnesia", she replied and rolled her eyes.

"Ok, then do just that slowly. Don't panic I am right here, I won't let you drown", he assured her and then let go of her arm. Of course Lorelai panicked and splashed wildly in the water and soon her head was in the water. Luke pulled her out again and gave her a stern look.

"Did you hear a single word I told you? Like frog, slowly, don't panic?" he asked her.

"Yeah you try to remember that when you're gonna die any second", she snorted.

"Ok, here we go again", he just said, let go of her again, with the same outcome. This time he didn't pull her out though but put his hand under her stomach and steadied her that way.

Lorelai froze when she felt his hand on her stomach, an electric shock ran through her body and she felt the tingling sensation everywhere, especially in her abdomen. She was paralyzed by just one touch of him and her thoughts were running wild. What would happen if her would touch her anywhere else? Would if he caress her thighs, kiss her breasts, tease her…

"Lorelai? Lorelai? " Luke's voice snapped her out of her daze and she realized that she was still in the deep lake, water surrounding her.

"Yeah.. starting now", she gave him an embarrassed laugh and started to do the movements he had shown her the days before, his hand still holding her up. Her breath hitched when accidentally his finger dipped into her navel, but she kept moving. Luke's hand was warm against her skin and made a nice contrast to the cold water which was surrounding her. She concentrated on his touch solely and the movements weren't her first priority anymore. She didn't even realize she was still doing them until Luke suddenly showed up in front of her and she realized that his hand was gone.

She let out a high-pitched scream and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. At first he went under the water and took her with him, but the he was able to get them on the surface again.

"Jeez, are you trying to kill us both?" he asked her while he swam back to the edge of the lake.

"You let go of me!" she accused him and grasped him tighter.

"You were swimming", he replied and didn't mention that it had been killing him to touch her like this, feel the smooth skin of her stomach without that he would ever be able to touch more of her. He had needed to end the skin contact or he would have to stay in the cold water for a whole while longer.

Yet the situation now was even worse, because her long legs were wrapped around his waist, he could feel all of them. Her breasts pressed against his back and he felt her hardened nipples what made him ache. But the worst was that her... lower parts pressed against his lower back and the only thing separating them was the flimsy panties she wore..

When he reached the edge he practically ripped her off of him and lay her hands on the grass on the edge so she could steady herself. He dove under the water and closed his eyes, let himself drift in the water for a moment to clear his hand and get rid of the feeling of her body pressed against his.

When he came back up he saw that she had turned around, but was still holding onto the grass with one hand. He took a deep breath and swam to her side, steadied himself by leaning his upped arm against the edge.

"You swam", he told her then.

"I did not", she shook her head.

"You did. You swam some metres until you realized I wasn't steadying you anymore", he stated.

"Ok, so I swam, but that doesn't help me if I always need someone to steady me", she said. _Hopefully you._

"You'll learn it. You did it already, you just need some faith in yourself", he said.

"Have a little faith in me", she sang and laughed when he splashed some water into her face.

"Hey!" she protested and splashed some back.

"Very mature", he grinned.

"Hey, this time you started it!" she laughed. Luke just splashed some more water at her and then swam a few meters away. Lorelai tried to splash back but, she couldn't reach him anymore with just one hand. So she let go of the grass and splashed quickly before she grabbed the grass again, but he was still too far away. Luke laughed at her and challenged her even more when he splashed his legs into the water and soaked her completely.

"Luke! You know in general you're not Mr. playful!", she shrieked, let go of the edge, angrily made the frog- movements and splashed water right into his face when she reached him. Luke just wiped it away and laughed even harder.

"See, you're swimming again", he said rident.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed and her arms were back around his neck, her legs around his waist, this time she was facing him though.

Their eyes locked and Lorelai licked her lips, which didn't go unnoticed by Luke.

"Lorelai", he said quietly and it sounded like a warning. A warning to let go of him. A warning to not look at him like this. A warning to not ruin their friendship by doing something hasty. A warning to finally kiss him. And that's what she did… she kissed him.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, I can't tell you how sorry I am that you had to wait so long for this chapter. I got a few reviews and pms asking me where I am and I tried to answer them if the users were logged on here. First and most importantly my guineapig got really sick and I had to feed him once every hour with a syringe which was not that pretty. Not for him and not for me. I couldn't write back then because I couldn't think of anything else. then by the time he was better I got sick and started a job at the same time which took all my energy from me. I am still not 100 ok, but way better. Yes, then I am working during my university break at an office, which means less time and another week of writing time gone. Yeah and then my laptop was gone for some repairs and I got him back completely NOT working anymore. Had to format the harddrive, all data lost, including the first half of the chapter which I had already done weeks ago.**  
**

So finally today I found the time and muse to re-write the whole thing. the content is the same, the wording a bit different and altogether not as long as I planned it to be, but I hope you're ok with that. Hope you like it anyway. forgive me for my faults, still no native, still no beta.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Gilmore Danes show**

Luke's eyes fluttered shut when her lips touched his and he couldn't help but press his own a little tighter against hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight, felt her wet and cold skin under his fingers.

When their tongues touched they both moaned and enjoyed the feeling of their tongue teasing each other slowly. They could only feel, feel each other and nothing else. They didn't realize that they both went under the water when they stopped moving their legs. They didn't realize that they were surrounded by water because they weren't breathing anyway.

The kiss got more passionate and their hands wandered over the exposed skin of their backs and arms. Luke's fingers tangled in her wet curls only to stroke back down her neck and over her spine which caused goose-bumps to break out.

Finally when Luke broke away from her mouth and kissed down her jaw he opened his eyes to see her reaction and realized that it was pitch black around them. Before she could start breathing- or trying to at least- he wrapped his arms back around her waist and brought them back to the surface with a few strong kicks of his legs.

They both gasped for air when their heads were out of the water and when he could breathe again Luke brought them back to the edge of the lake, exhausted from their little under water adventure. He gave her a push to get her out and she just lay out there on her stomach, breathing hard but not moving.

Luke climbed out and lay down beside her on his back. He stared up at the sky and tried to comprehend what had just happened.

After a minute of silence where the only sound had been there heavy breathing Lorelai rolled on her back and turned her head to look at him.

"Wow", she said after she had scanned his face for any indication what he was thinking, but couldn't find one. Luke turned his head and looked at her, searching out her eyes immediately, trying to read in them if this was a good "wow" or a bad "wow".

"Yeah", he said finally because he couldn't concentrate on decipher her eyes while they were sparkling in the moonlight and the only thing he wanted to do was kiss her again.

"That was some kiss", Lorelai went on and smiled at him.

"We nearly drowned", Luke said and couldn't help but smile back at her.

"What a way to go", she said in a low voice and rolled over to him and kissed him again. She broke away after a few seconds and looked down at him. "You concur?" she asked and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah", he smiled and pulled her back down to him to kiss her thoroughly. Lorelai lay partially down on top of him and put the weight of her upper body on his. Luke wrapped his arms around her again. When he started caressing her back with his fingertips he felt how cold her skin was and got worried.

"We shouldn't do this here", he told her when he pulled back. Lorelai immediately started to pout and he pecked her pursed lips. "You're cold", he stated.

"Not cold. Actually quite the opposite", she smiled and the pout vanished. She tried to kiss him again, but he broke the kiss after a second.

"Your skin is cold and I don't want you to get sick", he told her sternly and sat up making her slide off of him.

"Luuke", she whined, sat up and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Lorelai", he sighed and mirrored her position. She started pouting again and after a while he let out another sigh and ended their staring contest. "Why don't we get dressed and then go back to my place, I make you a cup of coffee and we… talk?" he asked.

"You know that 'getting a cup of coffee at my place' is code for 'I want to ravish you in my own bed'" she grinned and actually got up.

"Jeez", he just groaned and tossed her shirt over to her.

"Maybe we should get rid of out wet bathing-suits", she smiled cockily at him and started to untie her bikini top.

"Would you just stop? I am trying to preserve a little bit of self control here", he replied. She just laughed and slipped the shirt over her head and picked up her skirt.

"Finally", Luke muttered and picked up the rest of their stuff from the ground and packed it into their bags.

After Lorelai had pulled her hair into a ponytail and had slipped into her shoes he handed her her bag. They walked the first few meters in silence, both not knowing what to say now. They kept glancing at the other one, looking away when they got caught. They both knew that once they would e in Luke's place Lorelai's coffee would be the last thing on their minds. They had only kissed once and they hadn't really talked about it but at the same time there was not much to say. Both knew that this was the logic next step in their relationship and although it scared them both none of them considered waiting longer an option.

"You know as a gentleman who is inviting me to his place an offering me some "coffee" you should carry my bag", she teased him and broke the silence. She held her bag out for him to take when they walked back into town.

"I have my hands full", he replied and held up the hand in which he held his own bag.

"Here's a newsflash for you: You have two hands", she said and waved the bag around.

"Really?" he asked in mock surprise and just took her hand in his free one, laced his fingers through hers. "See, hands full", he stated.

"Can't argue with that. Guess I have to carry my bag myself", she smiled happily and gave his hand a squeeze.

* * *

When they neared the town-square they could hear some noise, sounding like a lot of voices.

"Did I miss some festival?" Lorelai asked Luke, because she hadn't been in town all day, except for a cup of coffee in the morning.

"I didn't see any decorations when I left", Luke grumbled, already sensing that something he didn't like was up.

When they could see the town-square they found the place next to the gazebo covered with chairs and a huge screen was set up.

"They are having a movie night and nobody told me?" she gasped surprised and also a bit hurt.- "Did you know?" she asked Luke.

"Who would tell me?" he replied and they walked closer so they could see what the townspeople were watching.

'See you're swimming again' they heard a familiar voice coming from the screen and looked at each other in shock. 'Oh my god' they heard Lorelai exclaim and saw on the screen in black and white how Lorelai clung to Luke right before they started kissing. When their lips touched the townspeople went crazy. They cheered and clapped, several "finally"s or "I knew it"s could be heard and Lorelai was so shocked that her bag slipped out of her fingers and she let go of Luke's hand.

"They spied on us", she said in a shocked tone while she saw the small movements on the water while they were making out under the water.

Luke was staring at the screen as well, felt the anger rising and bubbling inside of him. He clenched and unclenched his fists by his side several times until he snapped right when they came back to the surface on the screen.

He stormed past the townies up to the front where the screen was. First he unplugged the screen, but then that just wasn't enough, so he kicked the projector of it's table.

"Luke Danes you are destroying the property of the town of Stars Hollow", Taylor said and stood up from his seat in the front-row, right next to Babette and Patty. Luke just glared at him and then kicked the projector again which was on the ground by now.

"After you finally kissed her I thought you would be in a better mood", Taylor said haughtily.

"I am going to kill you", Luke pressed out and grabbed Taylor by the collar of his vest the next second.

"Even when I am dead you will have to pay for the damage you caused", Taylor said and tried to push Luke's hands away but it wasn't working. Luke's alar wings of the nose trembled dangerously, his eyes were fixed on Taylor's face and when he stepped closer to Taylor he stepped back. He took a step back again and again until his back was pressed against the gazebo.

"Luke let go of me", he said but sounded less sure of himself and more frightened. Luke didn't let go of him though.

"Help! Someone help me!" Taylor finally screamed terrified.

That's when Lorelai stepped up. She had watched the scene unfold and enjoyed it immensely hat Taylor, who sure was the head behind all of this, would get a little payback for showing the most private moment between her and Luke so far on a big screen in the middle of the town, like their lives were public entertainment. However by the look Luke gave Taylor he was really seconds away from killing him or at least beating him up really badly and that wouldn't help their situation at all. If Luke would let go of Taylor they would have the upper hand and could blackmail him into anything for the next months at least. If Luke hurt him now though Taylor would be the victim and their advantage would be gone.

So she hurried towards Luke and Taylor and slowly unclasped Luke's hands from Taylor's vest.

"We will first torture and then kill him", she told Luke when she held both of his hands in hers. He looked at her briefly and the back at Taylor, then pulled his hands out of hers.

"Who do you think you are?" Luke yelled at Taylor and the rest of the town. "This is none of your business and we are not your personal Truman show!"

"It is not our fault that you two are making out right in front of the security cameras by the lake", Taylor shrugged and then hid behind Miss Patty.

"We don't need security cameras. For what would anyone need security cameras by the lake? This is Stars Hollow! I tell you what we need" Luke screamed and pointed his index finger to Taylor's face. "Straight -jackets! Lots and lots of straight- jackets, that's what you all need."

"We didn't want to spy on you but you were just so cute when you tried to teach Lorelai how to swim", Babette said.

"Our own lovestory", Miss Patty said dreamily.

"No, not YOUR lovestory. This thing is between Lorelai and me and that's it! If I see anyone of you in the diner during the next month I will put a little arsine into your food, stir it so you won't taste it and then serve it to you with a smile", Luke said and barked out a sardonic laugh.

"But where am I going to get my scrambled eggs with cinnamon on top?" Kirk whined immediately.

"In hell, that's where!" Luke yelled at him and then stormed off to the diner.

Lorelai watched him leave, not sure if she should follow him or not. She hadn't done anything wrong and she was a victim just as much as he was. Still when he slammed the diner door shut, closed the blinds and locked the door she decided to let him cool down and digest this before she would talk with him about this.

"So tell me sugah, how was it?" Babette asked her suddenly and tugged on her arm excitedly, yearning for some details to gossip about.

"You saw it all", Lorelai said shortly, feeling angry at all of them for ruining her evening. She should have been up there in Luke's apartment with him by now, making out like teenagers or possible even more if they were fast. Now Luke was fuming and she was grilled for details by people who had spied on her with a camera for who knew how long.

"Oh come on. Give us a little something", Patty sighed.

"You know, I really can't believe you did this. Luke is right: Our private life is not for your entertainment and as much as I am for gossip: You really went too far this time", Lorelai said angrily.

"We didn't mean to spy. Taylor installed this camera a while ago because we thought someone was throwing garbage into the lake. Turns out one of these crazy ducks like the sandwiches which Kirks mother makes him and which he always throws into the bin when he walks to the diner in the morning. " Patty explained.

"The law of the state of Connecticut says that if you install a camera in a public place you have to watch the tape at least once a week. So that's what we did this last weekend and we find your private swimming lessons on there", Taylor went on.

"It went around town like a wildfire and in the end the dance studio wasn't big enough anymore, cause so many people wanted to see it. So today we decided to show the latest tape out here in the town-square", Babette finished.

"Sorry we ruined your evening hon", Sookie said when she came up to Lorelai, looking ashamed that she been watching as well. "I hope Luke will calm down very soon.

"I will talk to him", Lorelai sighed, not able to stay mad at them longer. Now she was just sad that Luke had stormed off.

"Could you ask him about my cinnamon scrambled eggs?" Kirk asked and was rewarded with an icy stare from her. "Ok, maybe not" he muttered and sat back down.

"You better get rid of this stuff before Luke will look out the window and decide to destroy the rest of it", Lorelai said and pointed with her chin at the screen.

"What are you gonna do now?" Sookie asked her.

"Go home, take a shower and then try to call him", Lorelai shrugged sadly, walked past the chairs, picked up her bag, remembered that she had been standing here holding hands with Luke just a few minutes ago and then trudged back to the crap-shack.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Washing and bolting**

Lorelai opened the door to the Crap Shack, still pouting and deep in thoughts. On her way home she tried to come up with scenarios for her talk with Luke. Maybe, that was the best option that came to her mind, he wasn't that angry and after a shower she could go over to him and they could start where they had left of earlier by the lake.

Or the worst case scenario: He thought she knew about this and set him up and he would never talk to her again. Luke knew her pretty good and he should know that she would never do something like that, but who knew what he would come up with in his anger clouded brain?

She let her bag drop to the floor by the table in the entrance, kicked her shoes off her feet and slowly walked into the kitchen. She took a cup from the cupboard and checked the coffee-can, thinking she had left some coffee in there before she left, but she was wrong, the can was empty. She harshly placed the cup on the kitchen desk and was lucky that it didn't break. Where was this stupid coffee? She knew she didn't drink all of it this morning! Or had she been so excited that she had only thought there was some left? Getting upset about it wouldn't help, so she just took a bottle of water from the fridge and made her way into the living-room.

When she looked up to round the couch she found her beloved daughter sitting on the couch, with a cup of coffee in her hands and looking at her strangely.

"Thief", Lorelai said, took the cup from Rory's hand and handed the surprised young woman the bottle of water, before she plopped down next to her.

"Hey! I think it's obvious who the thief is", Rory replied when she got over the surprise, but Lorelai didn't respond at first and just gulped down the cold liquid.

Then she placed the empty cup on the coffee-table and turned to her daughter. "What are you doing here?", she asked her.

"Wow, it's nice to see you too, Mom", Rory replied sarcastically. When her mother didn't respond in any way she added. "My classes were cancelled today. Bombing- alarm. Turns out some kid from Korea was scared about his exams and wrote a letter to the school. They got him, but still want to check the school for bombs".

"Mmh", Lorelai barely nodded and starred ahead.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Rory asked worried and placed her hand on her mother's arm to get her attention. Lorelai waited a few seconds to answer, but in the end it didn't help.

"Did you know about this? Where you there and watched us as well?" she asked Rory accusingly and Rory took her hand from her arm.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing", Lorelai replied when she realized that Rory really didn't have a clue what she was talking about. Her daughter still didn't know that she couldn't swim and she was unaware that she had kissed Luke. She didn't know that the town had spied on them.

"Mom, come on! Something is up ", Rory said, but Lorelai just shook her head.

"Stupid town", she muttered quietly, but not quietly enough.

"What did they do?" Rory piped up and again Lorelai shook her head and remained silent. "Ok, then I guess I have to go and ask our lovely neighbor. I bet she is more forthcoming than you are", Rory threatened and got off the couch.

"No," Lorelai shrieked and grabbed her arm.

"So you are gonna tell me what's wrong?" Rory asked and sat back down.

"They spied on us", she started.

"On us? Here?"

"No, at Luke and me by the lake", Lorelai explained.

"Well if Luke goes swimming, I bet it's given that Babette and Patty would stop by to ogle him", Rory smiled.

"They didn't stop by. There are security cameras by the lake and they watched the tapes tonight".

"Okay", Rory said slowly. "I still don't get why you are so upset".

"Why I am upset? I can tell you why I am upset! They spied on us for days! They taped our swimming-lessons and showed the on a huge screen in the middle of the town. They didn't care that this was private and they thought us kissing was their personal entertainment! And now Luke hates me" Lorelai ranted.

"Woa, woa, slow down Speedy!" Rory requested and held her hands up. "First: Who kissed?" she asked then.

"Luke and I we kissed tonight", Lorelai admitted.

"Aw really?" Rory said happily and smiled at her mother. Lorelai didn't react.

"Was it bad?" Rory asked puzzled.

"The kiss? No it was definitely not bad. It was amazing", Lorelai admitted and for the first time since she had come home she smiled a little as well. "But then the stupid town happened and we couldn't go beyond that amazing kissing in his apartment like we wanted to. We should have just done it by the lake", she muttered the last part.

"Ok, too much information. And if I got something right from your rambling I guess if you would have done… that, you would have your personal…- Paris tape now, " Rory said uncomfortably.

"One night in Lorelai", Lorelai giggled.

"Mom!" Rory said and made a disgusted face.

"Sorry", Lorelai replied still giggling.

"So what happened after the kissing?" Rory asked and then added quickly. "And please spare me any dirty details!"

"We dressed", Lorelai started and Rory held up her hand in warning. "We were only wearing our bathing suits", Lorelai explained and made an innocent face. "then we walked back into town and he held me hand".

"Aww… how cute"

"And when we reached the Gazebo there were at least hundred people sitting in front of a huge screen watching us swim and then make out. They cheered when we kissed and before we could come back to the surface Luke had stormed to the projector and kicked it off the table before he grabbed Taylor and nearly strangled him".

"Only nearly?"

"I stopped him, because I still thought there was a good explanation for all this. But then they explained that they had security cameras and there was something about laws and that they saw us on the tape and then more and more people knew about these tapes and in the end they made their private entertainment channel out of them and set up a cinema in the gazebo. Even Sookie was there watching. Well, and then Luke stormed of to the diner and said that if he sees any of us in the diner at any time soon he is going to poison us", she finished her explanation.

"Us? Did he really say us as in you and me?" Rory asked.

"No, he said "If I see any of you", but I was standing right there amongst them", Lorelai sighed and leaned back.

"I bet he wasn't talking about you", Rory patted her arm and leaned back against the couch as well.

"Maybe he was even angrier because the town knows now that he can't swim", she said after a few minutes of silence.

"Uhm.. actually…- it's me. I can't swim and Luke taught me", Lorelai admitted and looked to the floor in embarrassment.

"What?" Rory asked surprised.

"I just… nobody ever taught me", Lorelai shrugged.

"Well, you have Luke now", Rory smiled.

"Make that past-tense. After today he isn't going anywhere near me or water anymore for the rest of his life", Lorelai said sadly.

"Where is he now?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. He marched off to the diner, so I guess that's where he still is", Lorelai shrugged.

"Why don't you go upstairs, take a long, hot shower and then go over and talk to him?" Rory suggested.

"I guess… but he is always going to bed really early and it's already eleven pm".

"If he is that angry he can't sleep anyway", Rory said logically and tugged on her mother's arms. "Come on lazy, go shower and then go get your Grumpy", she smiled and Lorelai followed her instructions obediently.

* * *

While Lorelai was taking a shower Rory had something to do herself. She waited until she heard the water running and then grabbed her keys and hurried over to Babette. She knocked several times until Babette opened.

"Hey Sug…" Babette started, but Rory interrupted her angrily.

"Where is that tape?" she asked.

"What tape?" Babette tried to play innocent.

"Babette! I will kick your gnomes", Rory said furiously.

"Taylor. Taylor still has it", the woman confessed and Rory was gone like a flash.

Her next stop was Taylor's house, but everything was dark and nobody opened so she went to the grocery store. The lights were still on and she saw him behind the counter, writing something.

"Taylor! Open the door", Rory requested and punted with both hands against the glass, when she found the door locked. Taylor tried to ignore her.

"Taylor I can see you and I want that tape!" she yelled, but Taylor only fled into the storage room. But Rory knew that there was another door by the side of the building and when she tried it it was unlocked. Angrily she stomped in and stopped by the counter.

"Taylor come out and give me that tape!" she said again, but Taylor stayed away. She looked around and her eyes fell on what he had just written. With an evil smile she took the paper.

"Come out and give me the tape our I will publish this order in the Stars Hollow Gazette!" she threatened and Taylor came out of the storage room.

"Give me that!" he said panicked.

"Hand me that tape!", she grinned and slowly he handed her the tape he held in hands. When she had it and he reached for the paper she held she pulled it away. "I will keep that until I am sure that there are no copies of this", she waved with the tape and then left the store, ignoring Taylors threats.

* * *

When she walked into the living-room Lorelai just came down the stairs, her hair still wet.

"Wow, you were fast", Rory said. "But don't you wanna dry your hair?"

"Luke saw me all wet several times, he'll live", Lorelai shrugged, the giggled. "Dirty".

"This evening is getting more and more disturbing", Rory muttered.

"Is this..?" Lorelai asked when she saw the the tape in Rory's hands.

"Yes it is", Rory nodded.

"Gimme me!" Lorelai exclaimed and wanted to take the tape, but Rory took it away.

"First I wanna see it", she grinned. "I hate it to be the only one out of the loop".

"You seriously wanna see mommy and uncle Luke make out in the water and then by the water?" Lorelai asked innocently.

"Ok, you win", Rory said and handed Lorelai the tape.

"Thank you", Lorelai grinned and hugged the tape to her chest like a teddy bear. "And what is this?" she asked and pointed with her chin in direction of the paper Rory was still holding.

"This is our insurance that there won't be any copies", Rory said. "This is a an order from Taylor to an sex shop", she said and held the paper out to Lorelai proudly,

"Eeeew!" was Lorelai 's only reaction, before she took the paper with two fingers and then let it fall to the floor. "You better go and wash your hands", she told Rory, who looked first disgusted then horrified and then hurried off to the bathroom.

"You're gonna go over to Luke now?" Rory asked when she came back out after a few minutes of washing.

"Yeah", Lorelai nodded.

"Say hi to him from me", Rory nodded.

"Hopefully I don't have to say anything at all", Lorelai said and left the house.

When she arrived at the diner she was still clutching the tape in both hands. She took a deep breath and just wanted to knock when she saw a note behind the glass. First she couldn't make out what it said because it was so dark, but then she was able to make it out. "Gone fishing", it said and Lorelai's shoulders slumped. Luke had made a bolt for it.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for the reviews, I enjoy them immensely. I am actually not that sick when it comes to Taylor like it might have looked in the last chapter.. but you'll see.

I hope you leave me a comment for this chapter. It's slightly longer than the others, but I didn't want to divide it up, then it would have been too short.

Hope you enjoy reading

* * *

**Chapter 8: Pajamas or not?**

„Seems like he left you already", a voice said and Lorelai stopped starring at the sign in front of her. She still couldn't believe Luke had just left like this. When she turned around she came face to face with Taylor.

"Taylor… just… leave me alone, ok?" she said angrily and didn't hide how angry she was with him. Actually with him and Luke, but Luke wasn't there while Taylor was.

"It is not appropriate to speak to the town-selectman in such a tude", Taylor said haughtily.

"No, but to a sex-maniac", Lorelai replied, referring to his order.

"I hardly think", Taylor started, but Lorelai interrupted him.

"Taylor, I really don't care what you think at the moment. You ruined my evening with Luke, and probably the possibility of us … Luke bolted and I can't even remember the last time I was that pissed at anyone like I am at you now. So you better do yourself a favor and leave me the hell alone", she barked at him. Slowly the sadness she had felt by seeing the sign was replaced with pure anger.

"Why don't you call him? Maybe he is still up there and just hung up the sign", Taylor said, but took a step back.

"His truck is gone, I already checked", she replied. It had been the first thing she had done after seeing the sign. She had walked around the building and had checked for Luke's truck, which had been gone, just like it's owner.

"Maybe you should follow him to the cabin", Taylor suggested and tried to look innocent, which didn't go unnoticed by Lorelai.

"What do you want Taylor?" she snapped.

"Well, I guess that you want to talk to him. And because he has no phone and nobody knows when he will come back it might be better if you follow him", he started.

"And?" she asked impatiently.

"Considering that I know the address and could give you directions, I guess one could say that I have something you want and you have something that I want back", he said.

"Taylor, I hope you know that you are in no situation to bargain with me."

"Too bad you don't want to see Luke", he shrugged and walked a few steps back.

"Taylor! Gimme that damn address and I will get you that disgusting order!", she yelled and Taylor started to smile.

"Ok, we will meet at the Gazebo in exactly half an hour and then exchange.. . the things. See you then Lorelai", he said and hurried of to the market. Lorelai stood there and just shook her head. She was still angry, but somehow this small talk with Taylor and the option of driving to Luke's hide-out made everything seem better.

* * *

"You won't believe what just happened to me!" Lorelai yelled when she entered her house. Again she kicked her shoes off and marched into the living-room where she found Rory.

"Wow, that didn't take long. Didn't Luke let you in? Or did he kick you out? Did he think you had anything to do with the tape?" Rory asked and got more worried with each possibility.

"Luke wasn't even there. He bolted! The only thing he left is a sign on the door of the diner saying "Gone fishing"", Lorelai replied and sat down beside her daughter.

"Wow, that sucks", Rory exclaimed and looked at her mother sympathetically. Lorelai's hair was still a mess but somehow, although Luke hadn't been there, she looked less angry and less sad than when she had left.

"Yeah it does. But… I met Taylor", Lorelai said.

"And that's a good thing?"

"I wouldn't say good. I mean in general it's not a good thing by any means, but this time, I guess it was good-ish", Lorelai shrugged.

"Good-ish? Care to elaborate?" Rory asked confused.

"Hey, no big words tonight for mommy, she can't take it, ok?"

"Ok", Rory nodded. "But could you please explain that good-ish thing anyway?"

"I met Taylor and to make a long story short: We made a deal. I will give him his order back and he will tell me where Luke's cabin is and give me directions so I can find Mr. Runaway", Lorelai said.

"Okay… but how do you know Luke is at the cabin? Isn't he a camping kind of guy? Maybe he is out there somewhere at one of the few lakes we have in the beautiful state of Connecticut? Maybe he just grabbed his tent and sleeping.bag and that's it. No cabin", Rory wanted to know.

"I don't know. But it's a chance and I really have to talk to him", Lorelai replied and suddenly sounded sad again.

"Wow, you really like him, huh?" Rory smiled and nudged gently.

"Maybe. Didn't have time to find out yet", Lorelai shrugged and then sighed heavily. "So where is that order?"

"Still on the floor over there", Rory said and pointed to the paper on the living-room floor.

"Miss orderly didn't pick it up?", Lorelai teased her daughter, because in general Rory was always the one who couldn't see it when the place was a mess.

"Please, you were the one who pointed out how disgusting this thing is", Rory replied just when Lorelai picked it up. For the first time she did actually read it the order. "Huh", she made and shook her head slowly.

"What?" Rory asked curiously. "Or maybe I don't wanna know", she decided then with a disgusted expression on her face.

"Did you read what he ordered?" Lorelai asked.

"Nooo", Rory dragged the word out. "I just saw that he was ordering something at this shop and then didn't read the rest".

"He is the victim of blackmail because he ordered sheets… white sheets. No satin, no kinky stuff. Just plain white sheets", Lorelai said.

"We already know that he is strange, so I am not really surprised".

"But he is still ordering this at a sex shop and he shouldn't be forgiven so easily", Lorelai thought aloud. "If Luke is not at the cabin I will regret it if I just give in like this now".

"What are you planning?"

"I am just thinking right this second that I never really appreciated the fact that our fax has a copy function", Lorelai grinned evilly.

"You are Mephisto himself", Rory said and smiled conspiratorially.

"And I always thought I was poor ol' Gretchen", Lorelai winked and placed the paper order on the fax machine to make a copy.

"Can I help you pack?" Rory asked while she watched her mother.

"Pack? Do I have to move to hell now?" Lorelai asked confused.

"If you want to drive to Luke's cabin you better do it tonight before he is on his way back while you come here. Take a day off at the Inn and search for him. And for that you will need clothes".

"Sounds right, but what am I going to pack?" Lorelai asked with a sudden hint of panic in her voice.

"Your toothbrush and a pyjama?"

"God? What am I gonna pack? I mean, maybe I drive there and he doesn't want to talk to me and then I have to sleep in the car, which will be pretty cold. Do we have a sleeping-bag? Or I find a motel somewhere and then need extra sheets, because you can never sleep on the sheets in a motel. God knows, what the people before you did on them. They don't change the sheets after every guest, that's why they are so cheap. For the money they take for a room you can't even get the sheets cleaned".

"Mom", Rory tried to stop her mother's frantic rambling, but it didn't help. Lorelai was pacing in front of the desk.

"Or if he lets me in and we talk and he let me crash there I can't wear any sexy nightgown, because that would be inappropriate. Yet, if we make up and make out then I can't wear my old sweatpants and neither can I wear my black negligee, because, hello, that would look presumptuous. Hey, look Luke, I knew I would get laid tonight", Lorelai went on.

"Mom please stop right there and don't go into details. Why don't you go and meet Taylor and I will pack some things for you meanwhile, covering all the bases?" Rory said, got off the couch and grabbed her mother by her shoulders to stop her pacing and make her look at her. "Deal?"

"Deal", Lorelai muttered and nodded. "But I will meet with Taylor in fifteen minutes".

"Then you will be approximately eight minutes early which will give you time to sit down and relax. And please give me the copy before you accidentally hand him both papers", Rory said and grabbed the copy her mother had made and then handed her the original order.

"Ok, going", Lorelai nodded and walked to the door like a woman on a mission. She wouldn't freak out now. This was not the time to freak out over clothes because it would give Taylor the upper hand. Halfway down the steps she had to walk back into the house though, because she had forgotten her shoes. So she slipped them on and then left again, ignored Rory's amused look.

* * *

The walk to the gazebo was actually calming her down and she trusted Rory that she would find some nice things to wear. She really didn't want to freak Rory out earlier, but if she and Luke would really make up then, considering how their first kiss had gone, there was no other possibility than them making out as well and probably even more. So the question about her sleep wear wasn't so far off.

When she reached the gazebo she sat down on a bench and looked over to the diner. Everything was dark, the note still in place and there wasn't the slightest flicker of light in the apartment upstairs. It was so late already and she couldn't believe how much had happened in just one day. It seemed like it was too much for just one day, one evening to be exact.

She had kissed her best friend, had made out with, had planned a romantic evening with him, had been spied on and left in the dust by her best friend. She wasn't sure what they were now and just the thought that Luke couldn't want a relationship with her because of what had happened made her stomach clench painfully. She really had to talk to him as soon as possible to know where they were standing and what he thought about the kiss and all the other things that had happened.

Sometimes she wondered why nothing in her life could come easy. Her childhood had been difficult, her teenage years a blur, when she got pregnant it had first been a nightmare and later, when she had left her parents it had just been plain out hard. She hadn't dated much when Rory was little. She didn't have much money then, but she did have much work and Rory had always come first. It hadn't been as easy for her as it had been for other single mothers, because there were no grandparents, no one who paid the rent for the apartment or anything else. Sure, the town had helped; otherwise she had never been able to make it. And when she had dated it had never been serious, always the wrong guys. She didn't have the luck to find someone and get married, maybe because she had always hoped that Christopher would get his act together.

And now here she was: falling for yet another guy who was also her best friend and the relationship was already starting complicated. Maybe it was just not meant to be. Maybe this was god's way of 

telling her "He isn't it, Gilmore". Or maybe he was trying to tell her "Fight for it", she wasn't sure. Either way it wasn't easy. Sometimes she just wanted to stick her head in the sand and wait it out, wait for everything to get better and for all the problems to solve themselves. However this isn't how life works.

"I see you are on time", Taylor snapped her out of her thoughts and she got off the bench.

"Yeah, it's late enough already", she replied.

"You have the, uhm, order?" he asked.

"Yeah, got it right here. You have the address with directions?" she asked.

"Of course I do. You hand over the order and I give you the note with the directions".

"No way. I saw too many movies where that went wrong. We do it at the same time. Hold out the note and I hold out the order. On three we will hand it over", she said and Taylor nodded. "One, two, two and a half and three", she said and they exchanged the papers. Both immediately checked if the other one had actually handed over what they had said and then nodded approvingly.

"Ok, so Luke's cabin is in New Fairfield, if I read that correctly?" Lorelai asked.

"Not directly in New Fairfield. It's between New Fairfield and Sherman. There's a lake and .. well I wrote it down", Taylor said.

"Yeah I can see that. You even have all the traffic lights on there. Have you ever been there?" she asked confused.

"I know how to use a map", he said.

"A map with traffic lights?" she asked and wrinkled her forehead.

"Lorelai, just take the directions and you will find the cabin. I have to go home now. I have a business to run in the morning", he said unnerved.

"Ok, good night", she said and watched him turn to leave. "Hey Taylor?" she asked then.

"Yes?"

"Why do you order your sheets at a sex- shop?" she asked him and smiled.

"It is not a sex shop. It is a shop which sells things for adults. I am an adult so it is perfectly legal for me to order my sheets there. They are really good sheets. And the order was private Lorelai. You shouldn't read the personal mail of other people and you should have taught your daughter better. I am really disappointed with both of you!", he said and then marched off.

* * *

"So, you're there yet?" Rory asked three hours later, when the phone rang.

"No, I am still driving through the woods and it's dark and why doesn't Luke have a damn cell-phone?" she asked and felt that she was on the verge of freaking out. Taylor's directions had been good, but the problem was that she was in the middle of nowhere and it was pitch black. She saw the 

streets she had to turn into only when she had passed them and she was scared that she would hit a deer or a bear any second.

"Isn't there a house where you can ask?" Rory tried to be reasonable.

"Yeah, sure. I wake them up at three in the morning to ask them how to get to a cabin in the woods, where I don't actually know if Luke is really there", Lorelai disagreed and then took a deep breath. "Ok, listen I have to concentrate. You go to bed and I will call you as soon as I found the cabin or a hotel ok?" she said and tried not to worry her daughter.

"Ok, drive save mom", Rory said and yawned when she hung up.

"Sleep well , sweets", Lorelai replied and pressed the button to end the call. She was unnerved and she was tired. She had no idea where she was and her anger at Luke for just leaving like that became more apparent every second she drove. She knew she just had to make one more turn left and then should be right at the cabin, but she couldn't find the damn path. With a sigh she pulled over to the side of the road and opened the flask with coffee Rory had made her. It felt so good to have coffee now that sleeping in the jeep that night suddenly didn't seem so bad anymore. Maybe she should just stay here and go to sleep and the try to find the path.. the path! There it was right in front of her! Hurriedly she closed the flask and threw it on the passenger's seat before she started the engine and turned left right onto the path. And really after a few more meters there it was: The cabin. Everything was dark and she couldn't say if Luke was here or not. She couldn't make out his truck in the dark. There was only one way to find out and so she hopped out of the car, left all of her stuff in and then knocked loudly at the door. She had hammered maybe for the tenth time against the wood when the door suddenly swung open. Her heart stopped for a second when she just saw a huge male figure standing in the doorframe, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere. But then she could make out some grey sweats and a dark shirt, tousled hair and a pair of blue eyes shimmering in the dark. When Lorelai saw him like this her heart flew out to him and her anger was gone. She was just happy to see him. They had a lot to talk about.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked when he realized who was standing in front of him and rubbed his neck with one hand.

"You my friend, have a lot to make up for", she said and pushed past him into the cabin, which seemed to be a lot bigger than she had thought.

"Ok", Luke nodded and she could see him smile in the semi-dark, some light was coming from what seemed to be the bedroom. Lorelai couldn't help but smile back and look at him. She wasn't sure who made the first move, but a second later Luke wrapped his arms around her middle, hers flew around his neck and he kissed her passionately. Lorelai returned the kiss eagerly. They could talk in the morning…. She wouldn't need her pajamas or anything else. Naked would have to do.

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

_Please notice that** the rating** for this chapter is upped to** M**_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Talking**

_Previously: _

"_Lorelai?" Luke asked when he realized who was standing in front of him and rubbed his neck with one hand._

"_You my friend, have a lot to make up for", she said and pushed past him into the cabin, which seemed to be a lot bigger than she had thought._

"_Ok", Luke nodded and she could see him smile in the semi-dark, some light was coming from what seemed to be the bedroom. Lorelai couldn't help but smile back and look at him. She wasn't sure who made the first move, but a second later Luke wrapped his arms around her middle, hers flew around his neck and he kissed her passionately. Lorelai returned the kiss eagerly. They could talk in the morning…. She wouldn't need her pajamas or anything else. Naked would have to do._

"I can't believe you're here", Luke muttered while he kissed down her neck. She felt his breath against her skin and she moaned before she registered what he had said. When she did though she pulled back slightly to look at him.

"Yeah, after blackmailing Taylor and driving around for hours", she said and the smile on his face vanished.

"I'm sorry", he said and let her go.

"You could have called at least before you bolted", she said and sounded as angry as she felt again. She couldn't believe that with a single smile he had been able to make her forget her anger for a while and those amazing kisses had helped as well, but now it was back and she just had to take it out on him.

"I didn't bolt", he protested weakly and rubbed his neck again, as he always did when he was uncomfortable.

"No? You packed your stuff and left town without so much as a note. I call that bolting", she insisted and pulled her shirt down, which he had pushed up earlier.

"I left a note saying that I went fishing", he tried to defend himself, but it sounded lame even to his own ears.

"So you had planned on going fishing for a while now and just forgot to tell me?" she asked and put her hands on her hips. She knew exactly why he had left, but she wanted to hear him say it. And she wanted to know if she could find out what he was thinking about them, although his greeting had been pretty hard to misinterpret.

"Not exactly", he muttered and sat down on the brown leather armchair, which was nearly identical to the couch he had in his apartment above the diner.

"Or you suddenly had the idea of going fishing because you haven't been in a while. So you just packed your stuff and left", she went on.

"I just… I couldn't stay there", he admitted and ran his hand tiredly over his face.

"Yeah, but obviously you could just leave me alone with all this", she said accusingly.

"I didn't think about that. I just needed to get out of there, before I would have done something I would have regretted later", he said.

"Kill Taylor?" she asked a lot calmer when she saw how miserable he looked suddenly.

"And the rest of them", he nodded and then sighed. "Listen, I didn't think. I mean I did think, but all I could think about was to get out of there. I didn't want to deal with it anymore, don't see anyone. I just wanted to be left alone. I was just so angry", he said then.

"Oh", Lorelai nodded and felt bad that she had come after him. Surely, it was his own fault, but maybe she should have just waited until he would come back.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you, but I am glad you're here", he said then when he saw her starring at the floor, looking like she was just waiting for him to throw her out.

"Really?" she asked and looked up.

"Yep", he nodded and smiled at her. His eyes sparkled in the light escaping his bedroom and the small wrinkles around his eyes appeared. Lorelai thought he looked adorable and smiled back at him, unaware that she had the same effect on him, because she was lost in his eyes.

But then just smiling at each other wasn't enough anymore and she walked over to him and slowly sat down in his lap; his arms enveloping her immediately.

"I'm glad I'm here, too", she whispered and then kissed him. Unlike their first kiss this one was slow and passionate and he waited a moment before he opened his mouth and let her tongue in. Lorelai placed her right hand on his cheek, to pull his lips closer to her own. She felt his stubble tickling her fingertips when she stroked them over him cheek. His hands grasped her waist tighter when the kiss got more passionate and finally they began to wander over her body. First Luke stroked over her back, let his fingers dip under her shirt and let his fingertips stroke over her spine. Lorelai moaned when he touched her skin and kissed down to his chin, then sucked on his neck and made him moan in response.

Luke finally slipped his hands fully under her shirt and pulled it over her head. She stopped the ministrations on his neck only for a second and then started nibbling on his skin again.

Luke looked down to her breast, only covered by the black lace of her bra."God, you're beautiful", he whispered and pressed his lips to her chest, let his tongue glide over the rim of her bra. Lorelai grasped his hair with both hands and stifled a moan; her eyes fluttered shut. He hadn't even undressed her really and here she was moaning.

Luke slipped the straps of her bra over her shoulders and down her arms before he expertly opened the clasp on her back. They both didn't care that the bra fell to the floor when Luke pressed kissed to 

her newly exposed skin and then drew one nipple in his mouth and sucked softly. His tongue circled the bud and she gasped, her breath quickening more and more with every second.

"Oh Luke", she moaned and he gave her left nipple one last lick before he kissed his way over to the right one and gave her right breast the same treatment. The cool air in the cabin tickled the her the wetted skin and added to the sensation.

"I want to… I have to touch you", Lorelai muttered and was able to open her eyes with a lot of willpower. She tugged impatiently on his shirt and was finally able to pull it up. He just raised his arms, but his lips only left her breast for just a second.

Lorelai let her hand glide over his exposed chest, his broad back and his muscular upper arms. Her head fell on his shoulder when he started to graze her nipple with his teeth. It hurt a bit, but not too much and she thought she was going crazy. What was he doing to her? Never before had a man send her in such a blind state of lust by just kissing her breasts. She bit his neck softly and sought out his nipples with her fingers, stroked them, felt his chest hair around them.

Luke suddenly stood up and picked her up in the progress before he sat her down in the armchair again. He didn't give her time to think before he kneeled down in front of her and pressed hot kisses all over her breasts and then down to her stomach and at the same time unzipped her jeans. Lorelai giggled because his stubble tickled her and because he was suddenly so very good at multi-tasking.

"Up", he said with a husky voice and she lifted her hips so he could get her out of the jeans. Luke, thorough man that he is, took her panties down as well. He let the items fall down and then resumed his task of driving Lorelai crazy. He started at her calf, kissed her sensitive skin there and bit her big toe playfully before he kissed his way upwards to her knee and then her thigh. Lorelai's hips bucked up because she carved his touch, but he kept drawing circles to her thigh with his tongue and softly pushed her hips back down with one hand. Then he did the same things to her other leg, started at her calf again.

"Please Luke", Lorelai begged, bucked up again when he bit her toe. She was getting impatient and let go of the armchair which she had grasped before and tried to pull his upwards by his upper arms. Luke didn't let her hurry him though and when he touched her thigh with his tongue for the first time she was making throaty noises in the rhythm of his teasing.

Lorelai wasn't able to think anymore, she could only feel. She parted her legs as wide as she could when he sucked at her inner thigh.

Luke couldn't help but moan when she opened her legs wide and he saw her wet center, glistening already with her juices. He couldn't wait any longer, his teasing her had been teasing for him as well. With the tip of his tongue he licked one time over her center, tasted her, but stayed away from her protruding love-bud. Lorelai slid down a bit more in the arm-chair to give him better access.

"Oh", Lorelai moaned and bucked up again, her hands flying to his hair. He licked her again, made her moan again and then repeated the process over and over, made her moan louder and louder every time. Finally he had mercy and sucked at her clit and she came instantly with a hoarse scream. Luke didn't stop and lapped up the wetness escaping her while she writhed beneath him, her legs pulled up, her knees nearly hitting her chest.

Luke groaned when he looked up at her face and saw her mouth hanging open, her eyes closed tightly. Her breasts peaked up and he couldn't resist and pinched her left nipple which caused her to let go of his hair and she laid her hand over his and the other on her free breast and massaged it herself. Slowly Luke pulled his hand away, watched her pleasure herself and then lowered his lips to her folds again, this time not wasting any time, and went straight for her clit, licked it and then sucked it into his mouth.

"Please… oh god please", Lorelai moaned and Luke knew immediately what she wanted. Slowly he pushed first one, then two fingers inside of her and stroked her in the same rhythm as he licked her clit.

"Again", he urged her on quietly and stroked her harder, licked her faster; found that one special spot inside of her. He rubbed it once, twice, a third time and she came again, screaming incoherent words. He let her ride out the waves, kept licking her softly, but stilled his fingers. He waited until she had calmed slightly before he pulled his fingers out of her. She was still panting while he licked her clean and opened her eyes only when he had stopped. She found him leaning his chin on her stomach, gazing up at her with lust clouded eyes.

Lorelai sat up in the arm-chair and pulled him close, let her tongue play passionately with his. Now she was the one multi-tasking when she pushed his sweats and boxers over his hips as far as she could reach. Her hands went immediately for the main goal, making him moan when she enveloped him in her hands, stroked up and down, let her thumbs glide over the small opening on his head.

Luke's kisses got desperate when she massaged his balls with one hand and pumped his shaft with the other. He was hard and slippery in her hand, the precum he oozed helping her to glide her hand over him.

Lorelai broke the kiss and pressed her lips to his chest and then slipped from the arm-chair down on the floor, kneeling in front of him. In that position she could suck at his chest, but she couldn't reach his cock.

"Up… sit", she told him and took his hands from him to push him up a bit. Luke plopped down in the armchair, his knees already weak and wobbly and it had nothing to do with him kneeling on the floor for so long.

First Lorelai got rid completely of his sweats and boxer-shorts and then returned the pleasure he had given her before by sucking him.

"Oh yeah… like this", Luke groaned when she sucked him deep into her mouth. He grasped the armchair, afraid that he would hurt her if he would let play his hands with her hair.

Up and down Lorelai's mouth went her hand pumping him at the same time. Then she stopped, sucked just at his head, let her tongue dip in the small dent before she resumed her up and down movements.

"Ooooh… stop! You have to stop", Luke moaned when she started squeezing his testicles again with her free hand. Lorelai ignored him and sucked even harder, wanting to give him the same pleasure he had given her before. Yet this was not how Luke wanted this to end and so he grasped her upper arms and pulled her up, then pulled her on top of him, so she was straddling his knees.

"I want…" he started and flushed a bit. "Not like this", he said then, shook his head slightly and pointed to the spot she had just kneeled on. Lorelai nodded and kissed him softly, then sat up a bit and moved forward, so she was hovering exactly over his cock. He could felt her hot, wet entrance against the tip of his cock and had to concentrate to get the next sentence out, instead of just pulling her down and onto him.

"Do we need something?" he asked, hoping she would either say no or have brought something, because he was completely unprepared.

"No, I'm covered", she replied and then lowered herself slowly on his hardness. They both moaned when he was fully sheathed inside of her. For some seconds they stilled, enjoyed the feeling of being joined, only accompanied by some soft kisses.

But then Lorelai started to move slowly on top of him and both knew that this wouldn't take long. Luke could feel her squeezing him and she sped up her movements. However on the position she was she couldn't go as fast as she wanted so she sat up slightly and kneeled beside him, her knees on the cushion beside his thighs. This was better and she could go faster. Their moans got louder. Luke groaned every time he fully inside of her again, pushed his hips up as hard as he could so he could go even deeper.

Lorelai went from moaning to screaming when he squeezed his hand between their sweaty bodies and massaged her clit with one finger while she rode him wildly.

"Luke! Ooooh…. Luke!" she yelled and when she came again and when her inner muscles squeezed him tightly and repeatedly he couldn't hold out anymore and came in hot spurts inside of her, groaned loudly and pressed her against his chest.

Then there was silence, only their labored breathing was audible in the room. Luke leaned against the chair and stroked softly over her spine while Lorelai lay against his chest, her head on his shoulder and he was still buried inside of her.

"Oh my god", Lorelai broke the silence after several minutes, lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled at him. Luke didn't know what to say, so he just kissed her softly in agreement.

"Maybe we should take this to the bedroom, it's not that warm in here", Luke said between soft kisses.

"Okay", Lorelai nodded, but didn't get up.

"Could you.. so I can…" Luke said and gestured with his hands for her to stand up and then down to where they were still joined.

"You have to carry me, otherwise we will make a mess on the chair or the floor", she grinned wickedly. Luke only shook his head, sent a silent prayer to god that he his knees would carry them both and not by as wobbly anymore and then stood up slowly.

When he stood Lorelai wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed him rhythmically inside of her while she smiled challengingly at him.

"Lorelai!" he said when he crashed sideways against the doorframe because of her little trick, but she just laughed.

"So strong", she cooed before he dropped her unceremoniously on the bed , lay on top of her and kissed her again.

* * *

"You know, I was pretty damn mad when you just left. I wanted to talk to you", she said two hours later and snuggled against his chest. They were still awake, because other things had been far more important than sleeping.

"Talking we did", Luke laughed and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"We had other things to get out of the way first", she giggled and kissed him again. God, she loved kissing him. He was so good at that. Well, not only at that, but … she loved how his tongue felt against her own.

"Oh my god", she shrieked suddenly , broke the kiss and jumped out of the bed.

"What?" he asked worried and sat up when he saw her dashing out of the house as naked as she was.

"I have to call Rory! I promised to call her when I found the cabin and I forgot! And now I left the damn cell in the jeep", she yelled from outside before he heard her open the jeep, close the car again, slam the front-door shut and then jump back in bed and get under the covers with him.

"Crazy Lady", Luke laughed while she dialed and swatted his chest, before snuggling back into his arms.

**TBC**

**Please review and tell me what you think**


	10. Chapter 10

Here we go again... Thanks to **Steph** for betaing! she assured me that it wasn't too bad, but I'm not sure yet if I'm gonna believe her winks

* * *

**Chapter 10: Good morning**

Luke felt some sunbeams tickling his face through the open blinds and he blinked and opened his eyes. At first he couldn't really see anything; he was blinded by the light.

Slowly his vision got clear though and he could read the alarm-clock, which was standing on the night-table beside the bed. It was half past ten and Luke yawned widely and wondered when he had slept that long the last time and came to the conclusion that it must have been on New Year's Eve.

He felt soft breaths on his back and an arm slung over his middle from behind. Carefully he lifted the arm and turned around to face the slumbering person in his bed.

She lay on her side, her curls covering half of her face, her mouth was slightly open, her right hand pushed under her face. He looked down on her and saw her naked breasts; the white sheet with which she had covered herself the night before was pushed down to her hips. One foot lurked out under the cover; the red nail-polish was a nice contrast to the plain white sheet.

Luke couldn't help but smile when he saw her like this. He moved a bit closer to her and wrapped his right arm around her middle and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He was overcome by tenderness, which surprised him a bit, because in general a glimpse of Lorelai's legs was enough to get him excited. Now she was lying completely naked next to him in his bed and he just wanted to hold her- for the moment.

"Mmmh", Lorelai purred when she felt Luke pulling her close. She buried her face in his neck and breathed him in. He was still smelled exactly the same way he had the night before: Manly, sexy, like the forest and just a hint of after-shave. She did wonder for a second where the after-shave was coming from. The stubble which was tickling her nose was evidence that he hadn't shaved in a few days.

"Good morning", Luke smiled and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. He liked her soft and snuggly like this.

"Morning", she mumbled and pressed her lips to his shoulder and then yawned. This was good, she could get used to waking up in Luke's arms. She felt his chest-hair against her breasts and his strong arms around her waist. His body felt warm against her own and made waking up so much more enjoyable.

"Still tired?" he chuckled and gave her a squeeze with his arms, before he moved one hand up to play with her curls, which were now strewn across his shoulder for a second, then massaged her head softly.

"That's no surprise after last night. What time is it anyway?" she asked, but didn't lift her head from his shoulder. Instead she closed her eyes again and enjoyed the massage.

"Half past ten", he replied and moved his free hand to her chin, to get her to look at him, but Lorelai refused and pressed her chin down.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked confused, because he didn't have a clue why she was doing this. He hadn't intended to stop the massage.

"Uh uh", she shook her head and took his hand off her face, placing a kiss on his knuckles, before laying her head on top of it and rubbing her face contently against his palm.

"What are you doing?" Luke laughed, amused by her weird behavior.

"Morning breath. Have to brush our teeth first", she mumbled and then sat up abruptly. Luke had to laugh when he saw her press her hand to her mouth, her face scrunched up, because she obviously didn't want to get up, but thought she had to.

"Don't laugh at me", she mumbled behind her hand and slapped his chest with the other.

"This is ridiculous. We can stay in bed", he laughed. But Lorelai didn't think so. She wasn't really worried that she would be repulsed by Luke, but she didn't want him to push her away when she tried to kiss him, because he hated her morning-breath. It wasn't the sexiest thing in the world. Yet she really wanted to kiss him good morning, so there was only one option.

"Come on!", she said and tugged at his hand while she got out of the bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, surprised that she was getting up out of her own free will. Knowing how lazy Lorelai was in the morning that really surprised him.

"Get up!" she ordered and pulled again, this time he gave in and followed her, enjoying

the view while she walked stark naked into the bathroom in front of him. She let go of his hand then and took his toothbrush from the shelf over the sink and handed it to him, after squeezing some toothpaste on it. Then she dug her own toothbrush out of the overnight bag she had brought and started brushing her teeth.

"Brush", she ordered when Luke kept staring at her with an amused smirk on his face, but didn't brush his teeth.

"Oh right, sorry", he grinned and started brushing his teeth, the smile never leaving his face.

"A… ou…earful…orning", she said with the tooth-brush and foam in her mouth.

"Huh?" Luke managed to get out. Lorelai rolled her eyes, because he hadn't understood her, then spit the foam into the sink.

"I said : Aren't you Mr. cheerful this morning", she told him and rinsed her mouth with some water from the tap. Luke stepped beside her and also spit the foam out before he rinsed his mouth as well. He wiped his mouth with a towel and then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"Can I kiss you now?" he asked against her ear, unaware that this simple gesture alone gave Lorelai goose-bumps.

"I guess", she shrugged and tried to look indifferent, but couldn't keep it up for long before a smile broke out on her face. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck when he pressed his lips against hers. She opened her mouth when she felt his tongue tease her lips and welcomed it into her mouth. Her hands wandered down from his neck, over his broad shoulders, down his 

muscular back to his firm butt. With both hands she squeezed it. She giggled when she felt Luke dong the same thing to her and bit his lower lip playfully.

"I hate when you do that", Luke growled and attacked her neck with his lips and his tongue.

"You do not", she giggled and pulled his head back by his hair. "Don't get to exited, honey. I need breakfast", she grinned.

"That can wait", Luke said with his sexy deep voice and Lorelai knew she didn't stand a chance anymore.

"Ok", she whispered in surrender and tilted her head to the right to give him better access. Luke pressed wet, open-mouthed kisses against her neck, before he sucked lightly on a spot above her collar-bone. Instinctively Lorelai spread her legs, so Luke could step in between her legs and get closer to her.

"Well, good morning", Lorelai whispered and smiled when she felt his hardness pressing against her stomach. She took one hand from his butt and wrapped it around his shaft, stroking up and down slowly.

"Really good morning", Luke mumbled against her skin and started his way downwards to her breasts.

"I concur", Lorelai sighed when he teased her nipple with his tongue. He circled it, sucked it for a second into his mouth and then blew cold air on it. Lorelai moaned. He felt that she pumped him harder, stroked with her thumb over the head of his shaft.

"Lorelai", he moaned and blew cold air against her other nipple, which had gotten the same treatment before.

"Luke, please", she begged quietly and slung her left leg around his hip. Luke reacted by teasing her heat with one finger, then stroked her clit and dipped his finger into her wetness.

"You're ready", he whispered in wonder and kissed her again. His tongue danced softly against hers and he could still taste her cinnamon toothpaste. Her eyes were closed and he grasped her thigh with one hand to steady her when he slowly pushed his erection into her.

"So good", Lorelai mumbled into the kiss. "Feels so good". Luke looked at her face and couldn't believe he was really experiencing this for a moment. He was having sex with Lorelai in the bathroom. She was pressed against the sink, one leg wrapped around his middle, while he slowly slid in and out of her. He stopped moving and stared at her, trying to comprehend this. Last night everything had gone so fast and had been so passionate that he hadn't had the time to digest this.

Lorelai's eyes fluttered open and she looked at him and kissed him softly. "Luke?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. He couldn't say anything so he just kissed her softly and started to move again. Their tongues were teasing each other with the same rhythm as their joined bodies moved. Both could feel the passion rise and the kiss escalated slowly.

"Oh Lorelai", Luke moaned and pressed one hand to the small of her back to bring her even closer to him.

"Close", Lorelai replied and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. "Oh, oh, oh", she made quietly every time he pushed back into her, just to pull out slowly again.

Luke knew that he wouldn't last much longer anymore when he felt a certain tingling begin and slipped one hand in between them and stroked her clit.

"Come Lorelai… so close", he urged her on, and his thrusts became harder and faster.

"Oh yessss… Oh Luke", she moaned and pushed back at him. Luke made a throaty noise and pushed even harder into her, felt the cold sink painfully against his hand which was still on Lorelai's back.

"Comin'…comin'… comin'… comin'…", Lorelai mumbled and Luke felt her inner muscles twitch around him. Her body went rigid, she shook slightly in his arms and didn't make a sound anymore for a few seconds, before she moaned softly.

"Urgh", he groaned loudly as he spilled into her after a few more thrusts.

For the next seconds only their labored breaths could be heard as they recovered. Luke rested his cheek against her hair and tried to catch his breath, and felt her pussy still twitch from time to time.

"Very good morning in deed", Lorelai sighed after a minute and put her leg back down on the floor. She winced when she felt a slight pain in her hip and looked up at Luke, who opened his eyes when he felt her move.

He just smiled and gave her another long and sensual kiss before he pulled out of her, making her pout.

"Go shower! I' m making breakfast", he laughed and kissed her pouting lips. He took a moment to clean himself up and wash his hands before he walked back into the bedroom and got dressed.

Lorelai enjoyed the sight of naked Luke until he closed the bathroom door and then stepped into the shower. She was pleasantly surprised when there really was warm water, which she had doubted because after all, this was a just a cabin in the woods. She took her time showering and enjoyed the warm water running over her body, until she heard her own stomach growl. She giggled, because she had really forgotten her hunger for breakfast while her hunger for Luke had been satisfied.

She grabbed one of the big, white, fluffy towels and rubbed herself dry and then wrapped the towel around her.

Dressed only in the towel she walked into the kitchen where Luke was just making pancakes. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her cheek against his back.

"You made me coffee?" she asked and it sounded like a purr.

"Liquid death is right over there", he said and pointed to the other side of the kitchen counter.

"Thanks", she replied, pressed her lips to his shirt and then wandered over to the other side to get her coffee. She took a sip, swallowed and smiled when it tasted just as good as the coffee in the diner. Four huge gulps and the first cup of coffee was gone. She poured herself another one and looked down when she saw a red spot on her chest.

"You gave me another hickey", she gasped and stared at the spot. Last night when she had gone to the bathroom she had already discovered one on her inner-thigh.

"Oh really?" he asked with a proud smile and didn't sound surprised at all.

"Sex makes you cocky… ", she laughed out loud and watched him while he placed another pancake onto the stack. His smile only got wider, but he didn't say anything.

"I like that", she giggled, walked over to him and swatted his butt playfully. "And now feed me! Your love-student is hungry". Luke barked out a laugh and handed her a plate with pancakes.

"So what are we gonna do today. And please don't tell me you're going fishing", she said and took another bite of her pancake.

"It is too late to go fishing. You have to get up early in order to catch something", he told her and re-filled her coffee cup.

"See I knew there was a reason why I didn't like it", she said. "So what are we gonna do?" she asked again.

"We could resume your swimming lessons", he shrugged.

"Aw really?" she asked touched.

"Yeah, why not? There's a lake right outside".

"Sounds good. Or", she started and made a pause for the dramatic effect. "We could just spend the whole day in bed practicing. After all, your student needs practice", she said and grinned at him over the rim of her coffee cup.

"Yeah, she needs to practice swimming", Luke laughed.

"Oh ! Maybe I will learn it faster if I have a pleasant memory linked to swimming…. We could do it in the lake," Lorelai replied, tapping one finger against her lips and pretended to really think about it.

"Jeez", Luke replied and blushed.

"Aren't you the cutest thing ever?" she grinned, got up and sat down sideways in his lap.

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 11

First: Thanks to **Steph** for betaing the chapter!

Then.. honestly nothing more to add. I hope you like the chapter and this is not getting too pointless.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Hot day... again  
**

After breakfast, Luke took a shower while Lorelai washed the dishes. She had insisted on doing this alone, since he had been the one to make breakfast. In general, she had no problem when he did everything alone, but after the events of the night before and that morning, she felt weird about that. They were partners now, at least she thought they were and that meant that they had to share the good and the bad things.

They still hadn't really clarified the status of their relationship and part of her was still scared that Luke regarded this as just sex, and nothing more.

She didn't expect him to give her a declaration of love; that would rather have shocked her at this point, but neither of them had said anything yet that this really was a relationship and not a fling or being friends with benefits.

She put the wet dishes on a towel on the kitchen counter and then went back into the bedroom. She smiled when she saw the still rumpled sheets, causing pictures from last night to come back to her.

For the first time she really looked through the clothes Rory had packed for her. Her smile got even wider when she saw that her daughter had really done a good job. She had packed long sweat-pants and an oversized t-shirt, a short nightgown, some lacy- underwear and a short jeans skirt with the blue top that brought out her eyes. She took her black bikini which lay in one of the side-pockets of the bag, as well as the skirt and the top. She looked over to the closed bathroom door and listened, but couldn't hear the water still running, which meant she had to be fast... or not so fast depending if she really wanted to leave the house again that day. She dropped her towel and slipped the bikini on. Then she put the skirt on and had just slid the shirt over her head when the bathroom door opened and Luke stepped out, clad in a grey shirt and kaki-shorts. He was rubbing his slick hair with a towel making it stick out in all directions.

"All clean?" she smiled at him and pulled her shirt down.

"Yup", he nodded and smiled back.

"Oh, sweetie your hair is sticking out", she laughed when he threw the towel on the bed and walked over to him. She stroked over his hair and smoothed it before she gave him a lingering kiss.

"Sweetie, huh?" Luke smirked.

"What?" she asked when she saw his amused expression.

"Nothing honey-bunny", Luke laughed and pulled her into a hug.

"You're being mean", she pouted against his shoulder, but then had to laugh as well. Luke pressed his lips against her forehead and wanted to break the hug, but Lorelai pulled him right back to her. "You smell so good", she sighed.

"You do too", he admitted gruffly and pressed another kiss to her hair and then stepped back. "Let's go swimming. It's getting hot".

"I'm ready", she grinned and lifted her shirt for a second so he could see her bikini-top.

"You do that again and we will never make it out of here", he growled. Lorelai grinned, turned around and walked to the bedroom door, then turned her head.

"Not that I would mind", she gave him a sassy grin and then left the room and walked into the kitchen, "Grab some towels, would ya?" she called back and got two water bottles out of the fridge.

* * *

Hand in hand they walked the few meters to the lake, both lost in their own thoughts. Lorelai took in the surroundings: huge trees, green grass, and an idyllic lake right in front of her. It wasn't as warm here as it was in Stars Hollow, surely because of the forest they were in. Luke's cabin seemed to be the only cabin at the lake, or the other cabins were just not visible. However, Lorelai was sure they were alone out here. In general, being alone in the wilderness, either on an empty street at night or in a deserted area with just one road, always freaked her out, but now she had Luke and he would look out for her.

Luke meanwhile thought about the fact that Lorelai was there. He still wasn't able to wrap his mind around that fact. Surely they had talked about it briefly and she had made it clear just how upset she had been that he had just fled and left her alone to deal with the town. She hadn't really told him though why exactly she had sought him out. Did she come to yell at him or to talk to him? She had packed a bag so she must have thought about this. And Knowing Lorelai, she would have otherwise just driven off and come to him without any luggage. And she had found out where his cabin was. She had blackmailed Taylor. Wait… she had blackmailed Taylor?

"You blackmailed Taylor?" Luke suddenly asked when they had just reached the lake and Lorelai was spreading out her towel on the ground.

"What?" Lorelai asked surprised when he snapped her out of her own thoughts.

"You said you blackmailed Taylor into giving you directions to the cabin. With what did you blackmail him?" Luke clarified and grabbed the other two edges of the towel so they could spread it out more easily.

"Well", Lorelai snickered, " Rory went and had a little talk with Taylor about spying on us and she took an order of his with her. Obviously our town-selectman orders his sheets at a sex-shop".

"What?" Luke asked loudly.

"Just plain white sheets, nothing kinky. I really don't get why he orders them from a sex shop and let's me blackmail him with it. I mean, if someone would want to blackmail me with my order from a sex-shop I would…", she said, but Luke interrupted her.

"You have ordered from a sex-shop?" he asked and sat down on the towel.

"Don't tell me you don't", she shrugged.

"No I don't. What would I order at a …at such a shop?" he stuttered, the blush already there.

"Condoms, plastic dolls, artificial…"

"Please don't finish that sentence. You're making me very uncomfortable", he said and rubbed his neck with one hand. Lorelai smiled and knelled down on the towel on all fours. Slowly she crawled over to him .

"Last night and this morning you weren't too uncomfortable talking about this", she said and gave him a slow kiss. "And doing it", she added and kissed him again.

"That's different", Luke replied and slowly lay down on the towel, pulling her on top of him. His tongue teased hers and the slow kiss became playful and they had to break the kiss because they both had to laugh when they were pecking each other like woodpeckers.

"Let's start practicing crazy lady", he said and playfully slapped her jean-clad butt.

"Isn't that what we were doing?" she asked with a smile, giving him another peck and then moved off of him.

"You are…" Luke laughed, but didn't finish the sentence.

""Incredibly hot" I guess you wanted to say", Lorelai smiled and got rid of her shirt and threw it at him. He caught it, folded it neatly and placed it on top of the towel while she stepped out of her skirt. Then he got up and got pulled his shirt over his head.

"Like what you see?" Lorelai asked him and turned around one time, showing off her black bikini.

"Saw it several times already. It's getting old", he shrugged and walked past her and stepped into the lake.

"Hey!" Lorelai laughed and followed him. "If I didn't know that you're eyes kept lingering on my boobs I would actually have believed you". Carefully she dipped her right foot into the water.

"You can come in, it's not deep", Luke said and held out one hand towards her. She laced her fingers through his and followed him a bit further into the lake. The water was cold but refreshing and slowly they walked further until the water reached up to Luke's navel. He stopped and turned around to Lorelai who immediately stepped into his open arms.

"Water's cold", she complained.

"I know. But it will be better once you start moving", he said and went down in the water and took her with him. They both shivered a bit when the cold water hit their bodies, but it was nice as well. "You still know how to do it?" he asked her.

"Dirty!", she laughed. "And yes.. .your "do the frog" is still ringing in my ears", she replied.

"Ok, then start", he said and let go of her. She stood back up and then looked suspiciously before she raised her eyes and looked at Luke.

"Could you please steady me?" she asked him with puppy-eyes.

"Sure", he nodded. "Come here". She slowly lay down on the water and he steadied her with one hand under her stomach, the same way he had done back in Stars Hollow. And again Lorelai loved the feeling of his hand on her stomach, even more so because now she knew out of experience what pleasurable things he could do with those hands.

"Hey Luke?" she asked while she started swimming.

"Mmh?" he asked, concentrating on keeping her over the water and not giving into the urge to ravish her right then and there.

"When you touched me like that for the first time back home", she started and then stopped, because his finger had dipped into her bellybutton. She didn't know if he was doing this on purpose or accidentally, but from last night he should know that it was driving her crazy.

"yeah?" he asked and stroked with his finger over her stomach, dipping into her belly-button again and again.

"Luke, you're driving me crazy", she told him with a husky voice and stopped her swimming-movements.

"I'm not doing anything", he replied, but by the cocky grin on his face she could tell that he had an idea what he had been doing.

"OK", she said slowly and started swimming again but kept brushing her hand softly over his crotch. They teased each other like that for a while and the tension was slowly mounting. After a while Luke pulled his hand away, and for the first time Lorelai was really swimming.

"I can swim! I can swim!" she yelled in victory, but then put her feet back on the ground of the lake. The water was just reaching her chest, and before Luke could react she had slung her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "I can swim, now we can do other things", she said and kissed him before he could reply. Luke put one hand on her ass to steady her and the other in her hair to press her lips harder against his. This kiss had nothing to do with slow or romantic. This was frantic and passionate and their tongues were battling for control. Lorelai grinded against him, let his erection push against her folds and made them both moan.

She put her feet back on the ground, but only to pull down his shorts and wrap her hand around his cock a second later.

"Oh Lorelai", Luke moaned when she started to pump his shaft with her hand.

"You're so hard and big", she muttered against his ear and nibbled on his earlobe right before she attacked his neck. "If we weren't in the water I would suck you. I would swirl my tongue around the head of your cock and then suck you until you come", she told him.

"God", he growled and slipped a hand into her panties and entered her with two fingers.

"Can you feel how wet I am? Oh fuck me Luke!" she whispered in his ear and slung her legs back around his waist. Luke removed her hand from his cock, because he would have come otherwise and placed her hand on his shoulder. She dug her fingers into his skin and started to move her hips and ride his fingers.

"So hot", he muttered more to himself and rubbed her clit with his thumb.

"Please fuck me Luke! I want your hard cock in me", she moaned with closed eyes.

"You should do phone-sex", he groaned, pulling his fingers out and pulling her panties aside, pushing his shaft into her. She squeezed her eyes shut because the pleasure was so immense. She was so extremely aroused from this little foreplay. She wasn't sure why she was going crazy here in the lake, but maybe it was the anticipation unloading from all the other swim-lessons before. The way he had always touched her and they could never act out those feelings.

"Oh yeah.. so good! So hard", she moaned and pushed herself up and down on his cock. "Oh fuck me, Luke! Please fuck me!" she said again and he did just that.

"So hot", he whispered and slammed into her, making little waves around them.

"Deeper Luke", she moaned and pushed down harder. Luke's thrusts got harder and harder while Lorelai became more and more vocal begging him to fuck her. She rotated her hips so the head of his shaft could touch all the right places and make her even crazier with lust.

"Oh yeah", Luke moaned loudly when he felt her walls clench around him and knew that she would reach her peak soon.

"Ugh.. fuck… fuck me… fuck me", she chanted, not caring one bit about the volume. There was no-one around and they were standing in the middle of a lake out in the woods, so why should she care?

"Come Lorelai", he urged her on and pushed her up with the hand on her bottom.

"Fuck me Luke… oh god", she yelled and went over the edge. Luke closed his eyes and let her ride out her orgasm. He slowed his movements and waited until she had come down a bit before he slammed back into her. She was tighter from her orgasm and he felt even bigger. She couldn't form any words anymore and just moaned loudly with every thrust. She felt another orgasm approaching when he groaned and went even deeper than before, than stilled and groaned. She could felt his hot spurts inside of her and it pushed her over the edge again. Lorelai's head fell limply on his shoulder while she felt the aftershocks of her own orgasm. When the waves ebbed and Lorelai was able to think again, another thought entered her mind and she started to laugh against Luke's shoulder.

"What?" he asked and lifted his head.

"Thank god we didn't get that far in Stars Hollow or Taylor would have shown it on the big screen", she laughed.

"Jeez", he just said and pulled his now limp member out of her and she had to stand on her own feet again.

"Mean", she pouted and petted his soft shaft before he could pull up his shorts.

"That's what you get for saying "Taylor"", he grumbled.

"Shut up and kiss me", she just replied and pressed her lips to his. He opened his mouth and welcomed her tongue in his mouth. They kissed slowly for a while until they remembered that the water they were standing in was cold.

"Let's get out and rest a bit", Luke said. "Water's cold".

"Ok", she agreed as he took her hand in his again. "But you have to rub my back with sun lotion. I guess I forgot this morning", she giggled.

"What a coincidence", he replied sarcastically and wrapped his arm around her shoulder when they stepped out of the lake.

**TBC**


	12. Chapter 12

This chapter is unbetaed so I'm sorry for the faults!

And I hadve to agree with **like2CUhappy24-7** , who said that she liked the story better without the smut. It was getting too dirty, in my opinion, so I took it down for this chapter. No smut this chapter, sorry to those who waited for that, but I hope you like it anyway. Or like the story again...

* * *

**Chapter 12: Of meals and fights**

When they reached the towels Lorelai immediately grabbed the sun lotion and started applying it. From time to time she glanced at Luke, who was lying beside her on his stomach, and pretended to not look at her, but she knew he did. He kept following her hands with his eyes, watched how she rubbed the lotion into the skin of legs and arms, her stomach and her décolleté. Whenever she looked at him though he would just close his eyes and tried to make her believe that he was dozing on his towel.

When there was only her back left sunblock-free she nudged his arm and he opened his eyes, blinked sleepily, but Lorelai wasn't fooled.

"Stop staring and start rubbing! My back is still in danger to be lobster-colored tonight", she said and pushed the tube in his hand.

"I don't know what you are talking about", he muttered but got up and waited until she had laid down on her stomach. He crouched down over her back, placed a knee on the left side and one on the right side of her and opened the clasp of her bikini-top at first.

"No kinky business!", Lorelai teased him when he pulled the straps of her bikini top down her shoulders.

"Says the woman who could make every porn star blush", Luke replied and rolled his eyes, before he squirted some of the lotion on her back. He first spread the lotion over her back in slow circles and then kneaded it into her skin, giving her a massage at the same time. When he felt a knot he would work on it until it disappeared. Her shoulders were especially tense and it took him a while to get her muscles to relax. Her skin was red when he finally succeeded, but Lorelai didn't complain once. She just lay on her stomach with closed eyes and enjoyed the massage he was giving her. Once or twice she had groaned because it had hurt, but other than that she had been completely still.

Luke worked himself in kind of a trance. At first he had been hyper aware whose back he was rubbing. He had stroked down her spine and had watched her shiver. He had found that spot on her neck which he had kissed before, but when he had caressed it with his hands she had started to squirm slightly and a smile had appeared on his face.

However after a while he had stopped thinking and just enjoyed the feeling of her skin under his fingers. He saw her relaxed face, her eyes closed and she looked so content and peaceful. She trusted him completely and that made him happy. He watched his hands work on the kinks in her back, he heard her groan in pain and felt strangely calm.

When he was done with the massage he sat down beside her and when he looked at her he understood that she had actually fallen asleep with a small smile on her face. He closed the clasp of her bra again before he lay down beside her and put a towel under his head to get more comfortable. He studied her face while she slept and tried to count the freckles on her nose.

He stroked a curl behind her ear when the wind blew it on her face and Lorelai surprised him by scooting over to him until she could put her head on his chest and throw one leg over his. She sighed contently in her sleep when Luke placed a kiss on her forehead. He suddenly understood the calm that filled him; He was happy, completely and utterly happy just to lie there in the shade with Lorelai.

He decided he really had to talk to her without that sex would get in the way again. This had been a strange start for a relationship for him. They had kissed, they had had sex several times, but they hadn't even been out yet on a date.

In general Luke preferred the traditional way of doing this: Meet, go on a date, start with a kiss, wait several dates before you sleep with each other and then progressing from there. Yet, this was Lorelai and she never did things the normal way even if this meant that they weren't necessarily on the same page here. That they slept together didn't necessarily mean that Lorelai wanted a relationship with him. He had seen her date several guys over the years and he assumed she had slept with them. But the guys had been gone as fast as they had come and he was afraid that he would be the next one to come and go.

He knew that this wasn't really possible because they had been friends first and if she would decide that she didn't want a serious relationship with him he wasn't sure that he could go back to just being her friend. For Luke having sex with her meant being all or nothing. She could choose him as her boyfriend or not having him in her life at all. He wouldn't tell her like that, because that sounded like blackmailing and he didn't want her to sleep with him just to get some coffee and a burger, but he had to tell her that this was not a friends with benefits thing for him.

He opened his eyes and looked down at her face and surprisingly found her eyes open.

"Hey you're awake again", he said.

"Mmh.. how long was I asleep? My bathing suit in dry" she asked and rubbed her eyes with her right hand.

"For about an hour", he replied and realized that his shorts were also dry.

"What?" Lorelai asked confused when he kept looking at her strangely but didn't say anything.

"We have to talk", he said and sat up suddenly, confusing her even more. She also had intended to talk to him about the status of their relationship and she supposed this was what this talk would be about, but it scarred her that he sat up and put some space between them. If he wanted to tell her that he wanted a relationship he could just kiss her and tell her, there was no need to sit up and leave her lying on the towel.

"Okay", she just nodded and sat up as well, bracing herself for whatever it was that he would tell her now. Luke looked down at his own hands and she followed his look with her eyes. Why had he given her such a nice massage when he just wanted to be her friend? Why had he made love to her for hours last night? Why were they so good at it if he didn't feel anything for her? He had urged her on earlier when she had talked so dirty to him that it made her blush now. She wondered if she could ever look him in the eyes again if he would tell her now that he wanted to be just friends. She doubted it. So it was all or nothing for her.

Luke was silent and waited if she would start, but then he remembered that he hadn't told her what he wanted to talk about. He couldn't really think, he was too nervous and so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"I can't do this like that", he pointed first to her then to him and then looked down.

He didn't see that Lorelai's eyes widened with shock and she swallowed hard. "Oh", she finally got out and fixed her eyes on a non- existing stain on the towel, which she tried to rub off with her thumb.

"Yeah", Luke nodded. He had heard the disappointment but he was too nervous to understand that he had to clarify what he meant, otherwise she wouldn't get it the way he meant it.

Lorelai felt like he had punched her. She was hurt, disappointed and humiliated. She had come here to his cabin to make sure he would not doubt the thing they had started. She had slept with him several times and had let herself go completely every time. She had trusted him with her body and her soul and now he was telling her he didn't want her. She had to get away from him, before she would break down in front of him and make an even bigger fool out of herself.

"Ok", she started and cleared her throat. "I guess I should just leave then", she said and got up. In a hurry she tried to get dressed, but stumbled. Luke steadied her without thinking about it and caught her eyes for the first time since he had started this talk. He was confused when he saw her eyes brimming with tears and tightened his grasp around her arm when she looked down and tried to pull away.

"Lorelai?" he asked and first she refused to look at him again, but when he wouldn't let her go she got so angry that she turned and faced him.

"I get it, ok! I got your message loud and clear and I think I made enough of a fool out of myself already. There's no need for you to rub it in some more, that you don't want me. But you know what? You are the jerk here because you should have just sent me back to Stars Hollow last night, when I got here, instead of sleeping with me and making me believe that you want this, too. I thought we were friends, Luke, and as a friend you shouldn't have taken advantage of the fact that I feel more for you than just friendship. And now let me go, I want to go home!" she said angrily and the anger helped her to swallow her tears.

"Yeah, you're right. You're absolutely right. I'm a jerk who just has a lot of random sex all the time. This time it was you, sorry!" Luke yelled back, hurt that she would think so low of him.

"Oh now you're pitying yourself? Mean Lorelai accused you of having random sex while you are making me sound like a frisky hussy, driving miles and miles in the middle of the night to find a cabin with a lonely guy in, so she could get laid", Lorelai yelled back and was finally able to pull out of his grasp.

"I never said that!" Luke tried to defend himself.

"Oh no? Then what does "I can't do this like that" mean? If I translate it correctly it means: Thanks for the sex, but I'm done with you and you can leave now".

"What?" Luke yelled, finally understanding that she had completely misunderstood him. She hadn't declined his offer to have a relationship with him. She had thought he was telling her, that he was not interested in more than just sex.

"I really should go", Lorelai replied quietly and tried again to pull up her skirt, but it wasn't cooperating. Finally she saw that the zipper was closed and she unzipped it.

"No, Lorelai!", Luke said and grabbed both of her wrists with his hands. The skirt dropped to the ground once again.

"Luke, please just let me go now or I swear I…", she started but couldn't get farther because he interrupted her with a gentle kiss. She was speechless and just stared at him.

"You made a translation mistake. It means: I am not the guy to have random sex with, but I really hope that what happened means as much to you as it means to me", he told her gently and let go of her wrists and pulled her closer by her upper-arms instead.

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" Lorelai asked after a moment of silence.

"I wouldn't put it like that", Luke said and grimaced.

"But you do?" she asked and a small teasing smile appeared on her face.

"Yes", he nodded with a sigh.

"Ask again!" she demanded and the smile on her face got wider and her eyes lit up. Luke only shook his head and snorted.

"Come on! Do it", she laughed.

"Lorelai, would you be my girlfriend?" he asked obediently and was rewarded with an even wider smile.

"Yes", she said happily and hugged him tightly, buried her face in his neck and sighed when she felt his arms encircle her waist.

"I thought you don't want to be with me", she admitted, her words muffled.

"And I thought you don't want to be with me. We really have to work on our communication skills", Luke laughed and kissed her cheek.

"Our other skills don't need to be improved", she grinned and giggled when he rolled his eyes at her obviously dirty comment.

"I think we should wait", he then blurted out another thing, that at first didn't make sense to her, so she raised her eyebrows questioningly and tried to keep herself from jumping to conclusions.

"I want to take you out on a date, before we… you know… again", he finally stuttered and blushed.

"Damn! And here I was hoping for some make-up sex", she teased, but kissed him sweetly. "Ok", she said when she pulled back.

"We will fight again", Luke smiled and pulled her back down on the towel. He lay down and Lorelai snuggled up the same way she had done before he had shocked her.

"Will you take me out tonight?" she asked him and played with his chest hair.

"I don't think there's a restaurant nearby. Only a small grocery shop down the road", Luke said and let one of her curls glide through his fingers.

"If you cook us a nice dinner and I help you is this also a date?" she asked him.

"You really want that date, huh?" Luke laughed.

"I just doubt that we will be able to keep our hands off each other when we will sleep in one bed tonight", she said and let her hand wander to his stomach and farther down, until Luke caught it and placed it back on his chest.

"I could sleep on the couch", he told her.

"But I don't want you to. And this could be nice. We can swim for a while, go back and dress up, pick up some groceries and cook. Or you cook. And I set the table on the patio and we eat outside", she said.

"Ok, but I can't make you anything fancy here, I have only two boilerplates. Maybe some pasta and brucetta. Fruit salad as dessert?" he asked.

"Add some chocolate sprinkles to that salad and we have a deal", she grinned and he nodded. A comfortable silence spread between them and they were both thinking about their fight and how the situation had changed and they were now a real couple; Boyfriend and girlfriend.

"My feet are getting cold", Lorelai said after a while and rubbed her foot against his leg.

"We've been in the shade the whole time," he said.

"Let's go and lie in the sun for a while. Maybe we'll get a tan", Lorelai said and pinched him gently.

"Or a sunburn", Luke replied.

"I thought you already applied the lotion", she asked and raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, to you", he nodded.

"You didn't use any sun-lotion?"

"I don't need it", he grumbled.

"Yeah yeah, you're such a guy. Especially because you're staying in the shade", she teased him.

"I don't wannt to get skin- cancer".

"Pulling out the big guns now, huh? Come on! Let's go and lie down over there. Your legs really could use a tan. And I will give you a massage, how does that sound?" she coaxed.

"Ok", he sighed and tried to make this seem more unpleasant than it actually was. His feet were getting cold as well.

Lorelai , being Lorelai, used the massage to tease Luke merciless and only when he threatened to sleep on the couch that night after their dinner, she stopped. They enjoyed the sun and each other's company for a while until they both got too hot and went to cool off in the lake. Lorelai wasn't afraid of the water anymore and when Luke splashed some water into her face she ran after him and dunked him under the water which lead to a water-fight they both couldn't win. They called truce and sealed it with a long kiss, before they went back to the cabin to get ready for their date; The first date as a couple.

**TBC**

**Please review and tell me what you think**


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks to Grizzly for beta-ing!

Thank you for the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 13: Care bears**

Arm in arm Luke and Lorelai entered the small grocery store which they found on the side of a road, in the middle of nowhere. An elderly woman was sitting behind the cash-register, reading Hello magazine and she only looked up briefly and nodded when they stepped into the store.

Luke picked up one of the small shopping baskets, without taking his other arm from Lorelai's waist. They walked past several gardening items and Luke was able to pick out some fruit before Lorelai spotted the candy aisle and was gone faster than he could say "no".

Her eyes lit up in delight and a small smile was visible on her face as she chose several sweets. When her arms were full of sweets she walked over to Luke, who was still standing at the fruit stand, and dumped them all into the shopping basket he held.

"You cannot be serious," he snorted and looked down at the items she had picked out.

"Are you sure about that?" she grinned and marched back to the sweets aisle to get even more. Luke knew that it was fruitless- literally- to try and convince her not to buy all of those sweets, so he decided to just leave her there and pick up the other things they would need for their dinner. Without another word he walked over to her, put the handle of the shopping basket into her hand and wrapped her fingers around it, gave her a pointed look and took the fruit out, before he walked back to the entrance and picked up another basket to start his own shopping tour.

Lorelai looked after him with disbelieve before she started to laugh loudly and made the woman behind the register look up from her magazine once again. When she had stopped laughing Lorelai followed Luke, without another look at the sweet goodness on the shelves and when she found him stacking his shopping basket with spaghetti she pressed an affectionate kiss to his cheek and wrapped her free arm around his waist again. Luke grinned but didn't say anything.

After an unusually silent shopping trip, during which Luke picked out the groceries and Lorelai grinned at him adoringly, from time to time looking down at her own shopping basket, they reached the register and Luke placed all of the items in his basket on the counter before he tried to take Lorelai's to pay for her sweets and their groceries together.

"No, that's mine," she said and didn't let go of her shopping basket.

"I don't want to eat that stuff I just want to pay for it," Luke replied and tried again to take the basket out of her hand, but again she refused to let go.

"I can pay for it myself," she insisted.

"You are not starting a fight here about who pays for what, right?" Luke asked and made a third- unsuccessful- attempt to take the basket out of her hands.

"I'm not starting a fight! You are trying to pay for my sweets and I won't let you," Lorelai clarified with a smile.

"It's more convenient to just pay for all of that stuff together," Luke groaned.

"So, I'll give you the money for my sweets and half of the groceries later?" she dug deeper.

"This is ridiculous!" Luke said and threw up his hands in frustration.

"It is not," Lorelai said and enjoyed egging him on even further. Bickering with Luke was so much fun! "It's a normal thing to discuss. I came to your cabin without being invited and now I am using your groceries, your soap and even your toothpaste. I think the least I can do is pay for the sweets I want that you will never eat anyway."

"You eat my food every day," Luke replied and placed his hands on his hips, unaware that the woman behind the register was watching their argument like a tennis match.

"Yeah, at the diner and then I pay for it," she shot back.

"You hardly ever pay," Luke snorted.

"Now it's getting ugly," Lorelai replied and prepared herself for the rant that would start any second now, she could see it in his eyes. However the woman behind the register interrupted them before he could even start.

"Are you paying now or can I finish my book while you decide who pays what?" she asked with a fake smile and an unnerved expression. She had enjoyed watching them for a while, but she was afraid that the man would lose his patience any second and she wasn't sure what he would do them. The woman didn't seem to be afraid of him, but working here the last forty years had taught her that you could never be sure what would happen if someone got really angry. One time a guy had even started beating his wife up right in front of the shampoo section.

"Give me that," Luke decided, taking Lorelai's shopping basket out of her hands, a blush coloring his cheeks pink.

"Mean," Lorelai pretended to be offended and pouted while Luke paid for the groceries and packed them in bags. He handed her the bag with the sweets before they left the store.

"There you go," he said gruffly and ignored her pout. Immediately Lorelai's pout disappeared and the fun this argument had provided made her face light up with a smile.

"You're so cute when you're angry," she said affectionately and stroked her free hand over his neck and shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm cutey the care-bear," he grumped and Lorelai burst out laughing because of his dry comment.

* * *

"Sooo, how can I help you?" Lorelai asked after they had unpacked the groceries and Luke had started chopping tomatoes.

"Why don't you go and read something?" he asked without looking up and Lorelai gasped.

"You want to get rid of me? But we agreed that we would cook together!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted exaggeratedly.

"I don't want to get rid of you I just thought it would be safer for both of us if you don't participate in the actual cooking process."

"You're being mean to me, but okay, I will stay out of your way," she replied and Luke missed the devilish glint in her eyes because he had yet to look up from his task.

"Ok," he muttered clueless, only to drop the knife the next second when music blasted out of the radio.

"Lorelai!" he yelled, but she wasn't paying attention. Instead she danced through the cabin to "Man in the mirror". She only stopped when Luke switched off the radio and then she smiled at him.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"I could have cut myself," he said and walked back to the tomatoes. "And I hate that guy," Luke muttered a second later.

"Then let me help, I'm bored!" she insisted, but Luke didn't turn around. "You want it that way bucko?" she finally mumbled, as she walked up to Luke and slung her arms around him from behind while she pressed her lips to his ear. "Please Luke, please, please, please," she begged in a sultry voice.

"If you keep this up, there won't be any dinner," he replied, his voice already husky. Lorelai wriggled against him and he could feel her breasts pressed against his back.

"I don't mind," she replied, pressing her lips to his neck. She started to suck softly on his skin, letting her tongue draw small circles on it.

"Lorelai, please, let's do this the right way," he pleaded and stopped and pressed his hands to the surface of the counter.

"Then let me help," she demanded again and he sighed.

"Ok, you can start the salad," he said and smiled when she hugged him from behind and placed a kiss on his neck.

They worked side by side in comfortable silence, that was only interrupted whenever Lorelai asked how she should do whatever he had told her to do or when he corrected her.

* * *

While Luke finished cooking dinner by preparing a fruit salad as desert, Lorelai set the table with the plain white plates, red napkins and some red candles she had found in a kitchen drawer.

"All done," she said proudly after lighting the candles and smiled proudly. Luke turned around and nodded in appreciation and came to the table to pick up the plates so he could serve dinner.

"Do you have to be at the Inn on Monday?" Luke asked during dinner.

"Yes. I didn't call Michel before and I don't think he would take it very well if I called him tomorrow," she replied and took another sip of her wine.

"Then I guess we should drive back home tomorrow morning before it gets too hot," he concluded and Lorelai grimaced. "What?" he smiled.

"I just really don't want to leave," she admitted and took his hand on the table and laced her fingers through his.

"Me neither, but we can't hide out here forever," he replied and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Lorelai focused on the glass in front of her and turned it in circles by its stem.

"Do you think we can make it?" she asked quietly, a pensive look on her face.

"I guess time will tell," he shrugged but then added "If I have any say though, this will work."

"Same here," Lorelai agreed with a shy smile.

"Ok, then eat up or no dessert," Luke said playfully to lighten the mood and it worked, because Lorelai laughed.

"Don't forget the chocolate sprinkles," she said and Luke only rolled his eyes.

* * *

They took their dessert out onto the patio with them and sat down on the bench, looking out over the lake and the woods surrounding it. They ate in silence with small smiles and soft touches here and there; they just enjoyed the evening and being with each other.

"I'm done," Lorelai declared after a while, her mouth still full with food.

"Swallow, then you're done," Luke replied and put their empty bowls on the floor under the bench. When he straightened back up Lorelai immediately slung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long, deep kiss. Luke was a willing participant and pulled her sideways onto his lap and slung his arms around her waist. He stroked with his thumbs over the thin fabric of her shirt and finally slipped his fingers underneath.

Lorelai could feel his warm fingers against her skin, which seemed to burn wherever he touched her. She played with his hair, smoothing it just to tousle it again while their tongues played slowly with each other.

"Delicious," Lorelai whispered when they had to break the kiss, their foreheads still touching.

"The fruit salad or me?" Luke asked with a smile and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Both," she grinned and playfully bit his chin, letting her tongue wander over his stubble.

"I need to shave," Luke said apologetically and watched his own hand played with a strand of her curls.

"In the morning, Right now you need to take me inside," she replied, her voice hoarse.

"You know if this really was our first date I would probably kiss you goodnight by your door and then leave," Luke said and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I'm glad then that we're out here, because I really want this Luke. Make love to me," she demanded quietly, her eyes never leaving his.

In response Luke kissed her deeply and carried her inside, kicking the door closed behind him.

**TBC**


End file.
